--" 


LKTTBRS 


CAPTAIN 

GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS, 


U.    S.    N. 


EDITED   AND    ARRANGED. 


ALSO,  A  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE 

BY 

COMMODORE  GEORGE  E.  BELKNAP, 

TJ.    S.    N. 


-SECOND    EDITION. 


CONCORD,   N.   H.  . 

THE   RUMFORD   PRE55, 

1901. 


DEDICATION. 


DEAR  ISABEL  : 

Since  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  your  father  has  been 
often  applied  to  for  information  about  the  stirring  times 
in  which  he  bore  such  an  active  and  gallant  part.  But 
as  his  profession  required  that  he  should  be  absent  from 
his  country  on  long  cruises,  or  occupied  with  its  duties 
when  at  home,  he  did  not  find  time  to  attend  to  these 
applications,  and  they  were  therefore  referred  to  me. 
I  usually  replied  by  sending  extracts  from  his  letters, 
together  with  such  newspaper  notices  of  him  as  we 
possessed,  and  of  these  latter  I  made  and  kept  copies, 
as  they  would  become  worn  by  use,  and  ran  the  risk  of 
being  lost. 

In  this  way  I  learned  to  realize  thoroughly  what  a 
brave  and  earnest  man  your  father  was,  what  devotion 
and  energy  he  brought  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties, 
what  a  keen  sense  of  honor  and  what  a  sincere  and 
loyal  heart  he  showed  in  his  interpretation  of  the  oath 
he  had  taken  to  defend  his  government  and  flag,  and 
what  a  valiant  soul  he  displayed  in  righting  their  battles. 
His  letters,  also,  which  your  grandmother  Perkins  has 
kept  from  the  time  of  his  first  cruise,  as  well  as  all 
newspaper  mention  of  him  that  has  come  in  her  way, 
seemed  to  merit  preservation  in  some  available  and 


373654 


4  DEDICATION. 

permanent  form  ;  and  I  have  therefore  arranged  them, 
with  other  records  of  his  past  life,  in  this  volume,  which 
I  believe  will  be  valuable  both  now  and  in  the  future  to 
those  connected  with  your  father,  and  above  all  to  you, 
his  only  child. 

I  wish  that  it  were  possible  that  any  letters  of  his 
own,  or  any  words  that  others  might  say  or  write  about 
him,  could  ever  half  portray  the  brightness  and  quick 
ness,  the  warmheartedness  and  romantic  attraction,  of 
his  youthful  character. 

Your  affectionate  aunt, 

SUSAN  G.  PERKINS. 


LETTERS. 


GEORGE  HAMILTON  PERKINS  was  born  October  20, 
1836,  at  Hopkinton,  New  Hampshire.  The  northern 
part  of  this  town  is  intersected  by  the  Contoocook  river, 
and  a  settlement  on  its  banks  called  Contoocookville 
was  the  property  and  home  of  his  father,  Hamilton  Eliot 
Perkins,  at  the  time  of  George's  birth.  The  present 
home  of  his  parents  is  Concord,  N.  H. 

His  ancestors  on  his  father's  side  lived  in  the  vicinity 
of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  His  grandfather,  Roger  Eliot 
Perkins,  left  Massachusetts  early  in  life  and  settled  in 
Hopkinton,  New  Hampshire.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  enterprise.  George's  mother  was  Miss  Clara 
Bartlett  George,  of  Concord.  She  was  descended  from 
a  family  of  Georges  who  settled  originally  in  Water- 
town,  Massachusetts. 

George  is  the  oldest  son  in  a  family  of  eight  children, 
six  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  four  survive. 
From  his  earliest  youth  he  has  been  distinguished  for 
his  courage  and  quickness,  and  he  was  prematurely 
expert  in  all  manly  exercises.  He  gave  occasion  for 
the  neighborhood  to  relate  many  stories  of  his  boyish 
daring.  He  was  never  afraid,  and  he  never  gave  up. 
His  first  plainly  spoken  phrase  was  "  no  matter,"  and 
when,  as  a  tiny  boy,  trudging  with  his  sled  along  the 
middle  of  the  road,  he  defiantly  gave  this  reply,  refus 
ing  either  to  turn  out,  or  to  tell  who  he  would  have  for 
President,  to  some  voters  packed  in  great  sleighs  on 
their  way  to  a  political  meeting,  they  finally  gave  him 


6         LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

the  road  and  three  cheers  for  his  pluck  as  they  passed 
him. 

When  but  a  little  older,  he  went  into  a  field  to  try  and 
catch  one  of  his  father's  colts,  a  large  and  spirited  ani 
mal,  whose  head  he  was  not  tall  enough  to  reach.  The 
field  was  above  the  falls  of  the  Contoocook,  where  it  is 
broad  and  swift,  and  of  considerable  width.  After  a 
hard  chase  the  colt  took  to  the  stream  and  swam  to  the 
other  side.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation  George 
threw  off  his  clothes  and  plunged  in  after  him.  He 
cornered  him  on  the  opposite  shore  against  a  fence, 
which  he  had  to  climb  to  adjust  the  bridle  (this  he  had 
tied  around  his  neck  in  swimming  over),  and  after  a 
struggle,  bitted  the  refractory  animal,  and  swimming 
him  back  over  the  river  put  on  his  clothes,  and  brought 
the  horse  in  triumph  to  the  stable.  He  has  always  been 
passionately  fond  of  animals  and  has  great  power  over 
them. 

When  George  was  eight  years  old  his  father  removed 
with  his  family  to  Boston  and  engaged  in  the  African 
trade.  One  of  the  ships  which  he  employed  in  this 
business  was  a  barque  named  the  Palestine,  which 
had  an  unusually  high  deck.  One  warm  summer  day 
when  it  was  in  port,  George,  not  yet  nine  years  old  and 
a  little  fellow  for  his  age,  was  going  over  it  with  his 
father,  and  began  to  tease  to  "  go  in  swimming."  His 
father  gave  his  consent  on  condition  that  George  would 
"  dive  from  the  deck,"  never  dreaming  that  he  would 
dare  attempt  it.  What  was  his  terror  on  looking  back 
a  moment  after  to  find  that  George  had  thrown  off  his 
clothes  and  had  leaped  directly  from  the  deck  into  the 
water  !  His  father  often  speaks  of  this  as  "  pretty  bold 
diving  for  such  a  small  boy." 

After  three  years  his  father  became  tired  of  business 
cares  and  life  in  a  city,  and  returned  to  his  quiet  coun- 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        7 

try  home  in  Contoocook,  and  here  George  resumed  a 
life  to  which  he  was  greatly  attached.  He  could  sur 
round  himself  with  the  animals  and  pets  that  he  loved, 
and  being  the  oldest  son,  and  favorite  of  a  large  coun 
try  establishment,  he  was  not  only  happy  but  extremely 
active  and  useful.  The  only  drawback  to  such  a  life 
for  a  boy  was  the  dislike  it  fostered  to  the  confinement 
that  was  absolutely  necessary  to  advance  his  education 
in  books,  and  it  was  wholly  owing  to  the  determination 
and  perseverance  of  his  mother  that  he  made  at  this 
time  any  suitable  progress  in  his  studies.  She,  in  spite 
of  the  overwhelming  cares  of  a  large  place  and  a  large 
family,  and  the  obstacle  of  George's  own  reluctance, 
against  which  she  was  obliged  to  contend  with  energy, 
compelled  him  to  learn  his  lessons,  and  found  time  to 
hear  him  recite  them  herself.  A  journal  which  she 
insisted  upon  his  keeping,  for  practice  in  writing,  gives 
some  account  of  his  occupations  during  his  eleventh 
year,  and  is  now  a  source  of  great  amusement  to  his 
family.  It  is  an  unvarnished  record  of  his  daily  life, 
and  shows  the  interest  he  took  in  every  bird  and  beast 
on  the  place,  as  well  as  giving  evidence  of  what  a  busy 
and  helpful  life  he  led  for  a  boy  of  his  age.  In  it  he 
complains  a  good  deal  of  his  mother's  strictness  (often 
spelled  strickness)  in  keeping  him  at  his  books,  but  he 
never  seems  tired  of  any  active  work.  I  will  give  a 
few  extracts  : 

"  THURSDAY. — It  has  rained  all  day  and  taken  off 
some  of  the  snow.  I  did  my  lessons  and  took  care  of 
the  Black  Hawk*  and  the  other  horses,  because  the 
men  had  to.  go  away.  In  the  afternoon  I  sold  a  horse, 
and  then  I  carried  a  man  in  the  sleigh  to  Mr.  Gould's 
on  business. 

''FRIDAY. — This  afternoon  I  took  the   Black   Hawk 

*A  favorite  horse. 


8          LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

and  Mr.  Stanley,  and  Roger  took  Uncle  Paul's  horse 
and  David,  and  we  went  to  the  lower  village  to  an 
exhibition.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  time  till  we  got 
most  home,  when  the  thills  dropped  down  on  Black 
Hawk's  heels  arid  he  tipped  Mr.  Stanley  and  me  out  of 
the  sleigh,  and  got  away  from  us  and  ran  almost  home. 
I  took  the  other  sleigh  and  went  after  him  and  led  him 
home,  and  the  only  harm  done  was  he  corked  himself  a 
little.  Thus  closed  the  labors  of  the  day  !  I  lent  four 
chains  to  E.  Burbank,  two  binding  and  two  ox  chains, 
and  one  ax ;  and  to  William  Leslie  two  horse  chains, 
one  ox  chain,  and  a  goad  stick. 

"  MONDAY. — I  did  not  expect  to  study  any  to-day  as 
Frankie  is  sick,  but  mother  saw  me  go  by  the  window 
and  called  me  in,  and  of  all  the  scoldings  that  she  has 
ever  given  me  I  got  one  to-day,  worse  than  all.  To 
day  I  have  set  some  hens,  and  I  expect  to  have  a  great 
flock  of  chickens,  ducks,  turkeys,  and  geese  this  year, 
for  I  have  set  a  good  many." 

Sometimes  George  takes  on  quite  a  high-flown  style 
in  this  journal  and  says,  that  as  his  mother  tells  him  he 
must  write,  he  will  "  therefore  relate  that  we  expected 
Harriet*  to-day.  The  father  went  to  Concord  to  meet 
her.  When  the  cars  came  in  the  mother  looked  anx 
iously  for  the  long  expected  child  ;  the  father  got  out,  but 
no  child  came  with  him.  It  is  now  dark  and  the  busy 
little  village  of  Contoocook  is  wrapt  in  stillness,  so  good 
night,  gentle  reader.  I  forgot  to  say  that  to-day  our 
black  cow  was  blessed  with  a  very  handsome  calf." 

Under  another  date  he  records  the  following  agree 
ment  with  his  mother  : 

"  My  mother  solemnly  agreed  to  give  George  H. 
Perkins  one  loaf  of  cake,  if  the  said  George  H.  Per 
kins  goes  through  his  geography  in  ten  days. 

'*  MOTHER  PERKINS." 

*His  eldest  sister  away  at  school. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  9 

These  extracts  give  some  idea  of  his  life  between 
eleven  and  twelve  years  of  age.  He  went  with  more  or 
less  regularity,  during  his  early  years,  to  the  academy 
at  Hopkinton,  and  afterwards  to  a  well  known  one  at 
Gilmanton,  and  was  at  the  latter  when  his  parents 
decided  to  accept  for  him  an  appointment  as  midship 
man.  This  was  given  him  by  an  old  and  valued  friend 
of  his  mother,  the  late  Hon.  Charles  H.  Peaslee,  at 
that  time  member  of  Congress,  and  afterwards  col 
lector  of  the  port  of  Boston.  Mr.  Peaslee  was  obliged 
somewhat  to  urge  the  acceptance  of  the  appointment 
upon  George's  parents,  who  were  reluctant  to  give  up 
their  oldest  son  so  wholly  to  the  service  of  his  country  ; 
but  he  finally  prevailed,  and  George  commenced  to 
prepare  for  the  examination  prior  to  his  admission  at 
the  Naval  Academy.  As  his  family  was  not  at  this  time 
living  in  Concord,  George  was  placed  there  under  a 
private  tutor,  a  sensible,  well  informed  man  who  be 
came  warmly  attached  to  him  and  prophesied  highly  of 
his  future. 

George's  life  at  the  Naval  Academy  could  best  be 
told  by  some  of  his  classmates.  His  letters  home  were 
so  full  of  inquiries  about  everything  connected  with  his 
own  family  that  it  left  little  room  for  any  information 
about  himself  and  his  surroundings,  in  which  he 
seemed  to  have  but  little  comparative  interest.  This 
has  always  been  a  peculiarity  of  his.  At  the  most 
exciting  time  of  the  late  Rebellion  when  in  the  midst 
of  dangers  in  which  his  own  life  and  his  country's  fate 
were  exposed  to  the  most  imminent  peril,  he  would 
write  pages  of  eager  questions  to  know  "  what  every 
body  was  doing  at  home."  The  fear  of  losing  his 
identification  with  home  life  seemed  to  cause  him  more 
anxiety  than  any  of  the  great  dangers  by  which  he  was 
surrounded.  His  daily  letters  home,  extending  now 


10  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

over  a  period  of  thirty  years,  are,  and  always  have 
been,  full  of  minute  inquiries  about  home  matters,  as 
if  they  were  the  only  things  worth  while  in  the  world. 
The  horses,  dogs,  and  pets  are  all  remembered  and 
asked  for,  and  his  letters  are  full  of  plans  about 
**  always  being  at  home  with  all  I  love."  It  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  at  the  naval  school  he  was  wide 
awake  and  full  of  mischief.  He  wrote  home  cheer 
fully,  but  generally  regarded  it  as  highly  probable  that 
he  should  "  bilge."  But  this  prospect  did  not  seem  to 
depress  him  greatly  ;  he  always  had  in  reserve  some 
scheme  by  which  he  should  plunge  into  some  prosper 
ous  business  and  emerge  triumphant,  while  the  older 
officers  and  professors  would  never  cease  to  regret  that 
they  had  deprived  the  service  of  such  an  ornament. 
This  buoyancy  of  spirit  never  forsakes  him,  and  often 
breaks  out  in  an  amusing  manner,  even  when  he  is 
suffering  from  severe  fits  of  homesickness,  or  from 
illness.  It  is  a  valuable  possession  to  a  strong  charac 
ter,  and  illustrates  the  saying, — 

"  A  merry  heart  goes  all  the  way, 
A  sad  goes  but  a  mile  a." 

Judging  from  all  accounts  George,  on  the  whole, 
seems  to  have  been  rather  a  favorite  with  his  superior 
officers  and  the  professors,  though  he  himself  attributes 
his  immunity  from  reproof  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
little  fellow  and  was  hidden  under  "  Old  Golds- 
borough's"  huge  figure,  when  the  eyes  of  that  stately 
old  commandant  were  roving  around  to  discover  the 
authors  of  mischievous  pranks  and  irregularities. 

George's  chief  public  exploit  while  a  midshipman  at 
the  Academy  was  during  one  of  the  practice  cruises, 
when  he  performed  a  feat  at  target  shooting  which  was 
considered  worthy  of  being  reported  in  the  newspapers. 
It  appeared  first  in  a  Baltimore  paper  and  was  copied 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        I  I 

in  New  Hampshire,  and  I  have  been  told  lately,  by  an 
old  Hopkinton  man,  of  the  local  pride  with  which  he 
read  the  account,  "  because  George  was  a  boy  from 
his  own  town."  Unfortunately  none  of  these  printed 
accounts  has  been  preserved,  and  I  give  here  George's 
own  description  from  a  letter  written  home  at  that  time. 
"  We  had  target  practice  one  day,  and  it  came  my  turn 
to  shoot.  There  was  quite  a  swell  on  at  the  time, 
which  made  it  very  difficult  to  get  any  kind  of  a  shot, 
but  when  I  fired,  I  hit  the  target,  which  was  a  barrel 
with  a  small  flag  on  it,  thrown  out  about  three  quarters 
of  a  mile  distant.  Such  a  thing  as  hitting  a  target  at 
sea  with  the  ship  in  motion  and  a  swell  on  is  considered 
almost  impossible,  so  they  all  said  it  was  luck.  But 
another  target  of  the  same  size  was  put  out  at  the  same 
distance,  and  when  I  fired  again  I  tore  this  all  to 
pieces.  Then  the  crew  all  cheered  and  made  quite  a 
hero  of  me,  but  still  some  said  it  must  be  luck,  so  a 
third  target  was  put  out,  of  exactly  the  same  kind,  and 
in  exactly  the  same  manner.  This  one  I  did  not  quite 
hit,  but  my  shot  fell  so  near  that  all  agreed  that  it  was 
not  luck,  but  that  I  was  a  first-rate  shot  with  broadside 
guns.  Since  then  I  have  been  looked  upon  as  having 
a  very  correct  eye  for  distances,  and  am  always  called 
upon  to  fire  whenever  experiments  are  made." 

This  accuracy  of  aim  proved  of  great  service  after 
wards,  when,  commanding  the  Chickasaw  in  Mobile 
Bay,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1864,  George  aimed  the 
guns  that  struck  so  squarely  the  vital  parts  of  the  rebel 
ram  Tennessee,  and  induced  her  surrender. 

After  graduating  at  the  Naval  Academy  in  1856 
George  was  ordered  to  the  sloop-of-war  Cyane,  Cap 
tain  Robb.  This  ship  was  sent  immediately  to  Aspin- 
wall,  where  an  outbreak  against  the  United  States  was 
threatened.  From  such  letters  which  he  wrote  from 


12  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

there  as  have  been  preserved,  I  make  the  following 
extracts,  preceding  them  by  the  first  ones  sent  back  by 
the  pilot  out  of  New  York  harbor,  and  the  one  written 
on  the  voyage.  His  farewells  to  his  home  are  very 
touching.  As  I  read  them  again  after  all  these  years, 
they  make  my  heart  swell  and  my  eyes  fill  with  tears- 
of  pity  for  the  homesick  boy.  At  sea  he  begins  a  jour 
nal  letter,  where  the  poor  boy's  pangs  at  leaving  his 
native  shore  are  succeeded  by  those  of  a  hard  attack 
of  seasickness.  He  says, — 

"I  have,  taken  leave  of  good  beds,  clean  food,  and 
all  the  comforts  of  my  home,  and  have  in  exchange 
the  cramped-up  steerage,  a  dark  hole  lighted  by  a 
tallow  candle,  a  hammock  where  I  sleep,  and  my  food 
is  salt  beef  and  heavy  bread,  with  an  occasional  dessert 
of  boiled  dried  apples  mixed  with  bread  and  flavored 
with  whiskey."  There  were  no  cans  of  preserved 
meats  or  fruits  or  condensed  milk  for  midshipmen  in 
those  days.  I  remember  in  one  of  his  letters,  which  I 
cannot  find  now,  that  he  says,  "Hullo!  I  must  stop 
writing,  or  I  shall  lose  my  supper ;  there  's  a  worm 
running  away  with  my  biscuit !  "  His  discomforts  are 
increased  by  the  officers  being  in  "  three  watches,"  and 
thus  unable  ever  to  get  a  good  night's  sleep.  The 
weather,  too,  is  unusually  bad,  and  brings  on  a  long- 
continued,  heavy  swell,  in  which  the  "ship  for  days- 
almost  rolls  her  guns  under." 

He  thus  proceeds:  "I  have  a  good  deal  to  do  on 
board  this  ship  ;  one  of  my  charges  is  the  spirit  room, 
and  another  is  the  magazine  ;  but  never  fear,  dear 
mother,  the  whiskey  is  so  bad  I  cannot  touch  it,  and  if 
we  get  into  a  fight  the  magazine  is  below  the  water 
line  and  no  ball  can  reach  me,  and  there  is  no  danger 
unless  the  ship  gets  on  fire  ;  so  in  spite  of  being  between 
gunpowder  and  whiskey,  be  assured  that  your  '  hopeful 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  13 

son  '  is  quite  safe.  In  fact,  the  cockroaches  give  me 
more  trouble  than  anything  else."  At  a  later  date, 
after  they  have  entered  a  warm  latitude,  he  writes  in 
great  enjoyment  of  the  beauty  of  the  southern  seas. 
The  waters  are  full  of  dolphins  and  new  and  curious 
fish,  which  he  amuses  himself  catching  and  studying, 
.and  which  prove  a  great  source  of  entertainment. 
Above  all  he  is  enchanted  with  the  beautiful  tropical 
nights.  "  These  lovely  evenings  !  "  he  writes,  "  I  can 
not  describe  them  !  I  generally  spend  them  on  the 
forecastle,  and  listen  to  the  men  playing  on  their  vari 
ous  instruments  and  singing.  Sometimes  it  seems  as 
if  the  ship  were  a  floating  music  box,  only  the  sounds 
are  not  quite  so  delicate  to  the  ear.  We  have  some 
good  singers  on  board  who  really  make  very  good 
music." 

But  as  the  ship  approaches  Aspinwall  his  homesick 
ness  breaks  out  again,  and  he  seems  to  realize  his  dis 
tance  and  separation.  He  bursts  out  in  declarations 
like  the  following,  frequent  enough  for  many  years  in 
his  constant  letters:  "  I  think  of  you  at  home  almost 
all  the  time,  and  I  love  you  all  dearly.  How  I  wish  I 
could  be  with  you  !  "  This  passionate  love  of  home, 
which  amounts  to  worship,  and  which  seems  to  spring 
from  a  natural  instinct  to  make  it  sacred,  has  been  a 
marked  characteristic  of  great  races.  Among  the 
Romans  it  developed  into  the  consecration  of  the  hearth 
stone  and  the  beautiful  worship  of  the  Lares  and 
Penates.  Every  thoughtful  person  knows  how  much 
this  trait  tends  to  the  preservation  of  all  that  is  best  in 
a  family  or  a  country. 

George  gives  a  dismal  account  of  Aspinwall  as  he 
found  it  in  November  of  1856.  He  says,  "It  is  an 
awful  place.  Everything  about  it  is  Io2v.  It  is  built 
on  a  low  island  ;  the  Americans  here  are  of  a  low 


14  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

order,  and  the  natives  are  a  low,  miserable  set  of 
beings,  and  the  situation  of  the  town  is  so  low  and  sur 
rounded  by  marshes,  whose  odor  is  so  disgusting,  that 
a  low  state  of  health  and  a  low  state  of  spirits  is  the 
result  of  breathing  such  an  atmosphere.  There  are 
five  great  rickety  hotels  scattered  among  an  equally 
rickety  group  of  smaller  houses,  which  constitute  the 
town,  which  is  not  attractive  in  appearance. 

"There  is  nothing  raised  on  shore;  all  the  fruit 
comes  from  St.  Thomas  or  Havana  ;  and  there  seems 
to  be  nothing  going  on  but  dog-fighting  and  cock- 
fighting.  Yet  the  inhabitants  are  ready  and  willing 
for  a  row  with  the  Americans,  and  they  think  there 
certainly  will  be  one,  as  our  minister  does  not  get  the 
required  satisfaction  for  the  Panama  massacre  of  last 
April.  If  war  is  declared  the  Cyane  will  remain  here, 
so  all  the  air  castles  I  have  built  about  my  pleasant 
times  at  home  next  summer  must  go  to  ruin.  The 
great  excitement  here  is  when  the  steamer  gets  in. 
The  amount  of  travel  is  immense,  and  the  passengers 
stay  here  over  night.  Most  of  them  are  very  hard 
looking  cases.  Those  returning  from  California  wear 
revolvers  in  their  belts,  and  look  hard  and  reckless. 
A  great  many" look  sick  and  worn  out,  and  as  if  they 
were  going  home  to  die." 

This  was  the  year  of  General  Walker's  filibustering 
expedition  in  Central  America,  and  he  was  at  this  time 
being  besieged  in  Rivas  by  a  force  of  seven  thousand 
natives.  George  says,  "A  great  many  of  Walker's 
men  came  in  here  on  the  English  ships,  and  they  were 
in  a  most  miserable  condition  ;  many  of  them  were 
just  dying  with  smallpox  and  yellow  fever," — and  he 
speaks  of  General  Walker  and  his  officers  when  they 
leave  Central  America  by  the  way  of  Aspinwall,  say 
ing,  "A  more  desperate  set  I  never  saw."  In  June, 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        15 

1857,  the  Cyane  goes  to  Grey  town  to  bring  up  the 
sick  and  wounded  of  Walker's  army,  and  George  is 
much  affected  by  their  sufferings.  He  writes,  "  I  can 
give  you  no  idea  of  the  sad  time  we  have  had.  On 
arriving  at  Greytown  we  found  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  officers  and  soldiers  in  the  hands  of  the  Costa 
Ricans.  Most  of  them  were  in  a  horrible  condition  ; 
many  of  them  were  at  the  point  of  death  ;  some  were 
covered  with  wounds,  others  with  disgusting  sores,  and 
all  were  lousy  and  dirt}-,  and  everything  else  you  can 
think  of  that  is  sickening.  We  took  them  all  on  board 
and  did  all  we  could  ior  them,  but  we  had  very  bad 
weather  on  our  way  back  to  Aspinwall,  and  all  had  a 
hard  time;  several  died  before  we  got  there.  I  had  to 
go  out  in  a  boat  and  bury  one  man.  We  went  well  out 
to  sea  and  after  I  had  read  some  prayers  over  him  the 
sailors  threw  the  body  over  the  side,  all  saying,  '  God 
bless  you '  together,  as  it  sank.  It  made  me  feel 
pretty  sober,  and  I  read  the  prayers  as  well  as  I 
could,  but  never  having  turned  my  attention  to  the 
ministry  as  a  profession,  I  suppose  I  did  not  do  my 
part  in  what  was  just  the  right  manner." 

In  fact,  during  these  months  that  he  spent  at  Aspin 
wall  George  saw  a  good  deal  that  was  sorrowful,  and 
was  much  affected  at  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Strain, 
a  brilliant  naval  officer,  whose  ill-fated  expedition 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  in  order  to  discover  a 
route  for  the  canal,  was  the  subject  of  a  series  of  inter 
esting  articles  in  Harper's  Magazine  in  1855.  George 
describes  his  death  and  burial  as  follows  :  "A  very  sad 
affair  happened  day  before  yesterday.  Lieutenant 
Strain,  the  same  officer  who  suffered  so  much  on  this 
Isthmus  some  time  ago,  was  ordered  to  this  ship  and 
came  clown  on  the  Illinois  to  join  us.  The  steamer 
arrived  in  the  afternoon,  and  he  did  not  come  directly 


1 6        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

on  board  ship  but  stopped  at  a  hotel  on  shore.  He  was 
almost  immediately  seized  with  the  fever  and  died  that 
very  night.  Only  twelve  hours  after  his  death  he  was 
buried,  and  twenty-four  hours  before  his  burial  he  was 
laughing  and  talking.  He  was  buried  at  a  place  called 
Monkey  Hill,  among  a  lot  of  negroes,  in  a  strange 
land,  where  there  was  no  one  who  cared  the  least  for 
him.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  a  few  officers  who 
were  strangers  to  him,  and,  of  course,  showed  but  little 
feeling.  Twelve  sailors  fired  a  volley  over  his  grave, 
and  three  negroes  covered  him  up  ;  and  thus  ended  the 
days  of  one  of  our  distinguished  naval  officers.  I  won 
der  what  they  would  do  with  me  !  " 

George  hears  soon  after  of  the  death  of  a  classmate, 
and  writes:  "I  occasionally  hear  from  the  Academy, 
and  the  news  is  generally  cheering  and  awakens  pleas 
ant  recollections,  but  this  time  it  was  the  reverse.  The 
letters  contained  an  account  of  the  death  of  Midshipman 
Oraham,  an  old  friend  of  mine,  who  went  out  in  the 
Constellation.  He  died  at  Constantinople  and  was 
buried  there  with  military  honors.  He  was  very  hand 
some  and  a  fine  scholar."  This  fact  is  interesting  to 
the  family,  as  George's  uncle,  John  H.  George,  after 
wards  married,  for  his  second  wife,  the  sister  of  Mid 
shipman  Graham,  although  at  this  time  the  families 
lived  far  apart  and  were  totally  unacquainted.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  such  melancholy  occurrences  should 
affect  George's  thoughts  and  turn  them  more  than  ever, 
if  that  were  possible,  towards  his  home.  He  writes  me, 
*"  If  you  could  imagine  the  joy  with  which  I  greet  the 
letters  from  home  you  would  intercede  for  me  and  have 
many  more  written."  Again  it  is,  "  Dear  mother,  when 
I  do  not  get  a  letter  I  am  always  afraid  you  are  not 
well.  I  try  to  think  that  all  is  right,  but  I  am  not 
exactly  easy  in  my  mind.  Tell  me  what  you  did  during 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  17 

the  Christmas  holidays,  and  if  I  can  persuade  myself 
that  you  are  only  well  and  happy  I  will  try  and  be  con 
tented."  The  choice  of  a  profession  for  his  next  younger 
brother  is  under  discussion,  and  he  writes  home  with 
great  seriousness:  "When  you  go  away  from  home 
you  will  learn  something  of  the  coldness  of  the  world, 
and  find  out  the  importance  of  study.  Always  being  at 
home  under  the  influence  of  advice  from  an  affectionate 
mother  and  with  an  over-indulgent  father  makes  it  hard 
to  tell  if,  when  thrown  on  your  own  resources,  you  will 
have  the  moral  courage  to  withstand  temptation."  In 
February,  1857,  he  says,  "The  talk  about  war  grows 
stronger,  and  the  squadrons  have  been  ordered  to  ren 
dezvous  here.  I  have  just  come  down  from  general  quar 
ters  where  they  read  the  'Articles  of  War.'  I  trembled 
at  that  part  which  says,  *  Any  man  or  officer  who  runs 
while  in  action  shall  suffer  death.'  I  thought  of  the  say 
ing,  '  He  who  fights  and  runs  away  shall  live  to  fight 
another  day.'  '  So  he  was  bound  to  be  hopeful  and 
make  the  best  of  the  matter,  and  these  extracts  from  his 
letters  show  that  he  did  not  get  dull  in  spite  of  his  mo 
notonous  life  and  depressing  surroundings.  He  creates 
some  variety  to  furnish  him  new  material  for  almost 
every  letter,  and  he  is  lively,  if  only  with  indignation. 
He  never  spares  himself  if  there  is  anything  to  be  done, 
but  usually  does  far  beyond  his  strength.  The  steamer 
George  Law  gets  aground  on  entering  the  harbor,  and 
he  has  "  command  of  a  boat  to  go  to  her  assistance  and 
take  off  the  passengers."  He  has  the  "fanciest  boat 
and  lands  all  the  ladies, "but  gets  "  such  a  headache  "  he 
can  scarcely  write.  Again  he  is  "  out  in  the  rain  all 
day  picking  up  the  cargo  of  our  launch  which  was  upset 
on  a  pleasure  excursion.  The  American  minister,  Mr. 
Morse,  was  of  the  party.  There  were  none  drowned, 
but  I  am  nearly  sick  to-day  with  a  cold."  He  enjoys 


1 8        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

getting  up  races  "  between  the  Cyane's  gig  and  that  of 
the  British  ship  Dolphin"  and  "  finds  it  exciting." 

Under  date  of  Feb.  26,  1857,  he  writes,  "  I  will  now 
give  you  an  account  of  the  way  Washington's  birthday 
was  celebrated  on  board  the  U.  S.  sloop-of-war  Cyane. 
The  ship  was  dressed  in  flags  and  looked  very  hand 
some.  At  meridian  we  fired  a  salute  and  spliced  the 
main  braces,  that  is,  gave  the  men  two  drinks  of  whis 
key.  The  ward  room  officers  gave  a  blowout  and  in 
vited  the  midshipmen,  who  are  never  known  to  refuse 
such  invitations.  It  consisted  of  everything  that  blow 
outs  generally  do.  The  captain  was  very  entertaining, 
but  the  midshipmen  were  particularly  quiet,  and  only 
distinguished  themselves  when  it  came  time  for  eating 
and  drinking.  Towards  night  it  rained  and  blew  fear 
fully.  The  men  had  smuggled  off  a  great  deal  of  liquor, 
and  the  crew  were  nearly  all  drunk,  but  they  seemed 
happy  and  jolly,  and  were  singing  all  over  the  ship. 
Suddenly  the  singing  stopped,  and  as  I  was  sitting 
forward  I  heard  whispers  pass  that  a  man  had  been 
stabbed  !  I  fastened  on  to  one  of  the  men  and  made 
him  tell  me  where  the  man  was.  He  took  me  down  to 
a  dark  hole  underneath  all  the  hammocks,  and  I  sent 
for  the  first  lieutenant  and  a  light.  When  he  came  we 
found  the  man  cut  very  badly,  but  he  was  very  drunk, 
and  you  know  the  saying,  'A  druuken  man  can't  be 
killed,'  so  this  one  is  now  in  a  fine  way  of  recovery.  The 
man  that  stabbed  him  was  found  and  confined."  As  he 
closes  his  description  George  makes  this  moral  reflec 
tion  :  "  I  have  no  doubt  but  Washington's  birthday  is  to 
many  people,  and  in  many  ways,  a  day  of  happiness, 
but  it  is  also  the  cause  of  a  great  many  sore  heads." 

The  following  letter,  which  he  wrote  home  during 
this  part  of  the  cruise,  is  too  characteristic  to  be  omitted, 
for  it  displays  his  spirit  of  adventure,  and  is  a  type  of 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  19 

many  received  during  his  youthful  cruises.  It  begins, 
as  is  frequently  the  case,  by  acknowledging  with  delight 
his  letters  from  home  "  which  have  made  me  happy 
ever  since  they  came."  Then  he  says,  "  I  have  been 
twice  on  shore  hunting  since  I  wrote  last.  The  first 
time  I  went,  it  was  after  parrots  and  monkeys,  but 
being  warned,  after  we  started,  that  the  woods  were 
dangerous,  we  did  not  dare  to  go  in  very  far,  and  were 
not  successful,  for  in  trying  to  get  at  some  monkeys 
that  we  saw,  we  scared  up  three  panthers,  and  as  I  had 
nothing  but  shot  in  my  gun  I  was  afraid  to  fire,  as  they 
are  very  bad  when  wounded  ;  so  I  decided  that  '  discre 
tion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,'  and  went  to  a  hut 
which  I  saw  and  which  proved  to  be  inhabited  by  an 
old  native  woman  and  her  two  daughters.  They  were 
very  kind  and  pleasant,  and  I  passed  the  afternoon 
there  trying  to  talk  Spanish  with  them.  But  when  we 
went  hunting  again  a  few  days  after  we  did  not  have 
quite  such  good  luck.  We  went  ashore,  borrowed  a 
rickety  old  boat,  and  getting  all  ready,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  something  to  eat,  we  started  across  the  bay,  a 
distance  of  four  miles.  We  went  across  very  well,  but 
in  attempting  to  land  we  found  it  was  very  dangerous, 
for  the  breakers  ran  so  high  that  they  upset  our  boat. 
But  we  managed  to  land  at  last,  and  hauled  the  boat 
ashore  without  much  damage.  After  hunting  three  or 
four  hours  and  having  pretty  good  luck,  it  came  on  to 
blow  very  hard  and  we  thought  we  had  better  go  back, 
though  the  natives  told  us  to  wait  till  the  gale  was  over. 
But  it  was  getting  so  late  we  were  afraid  we  should 
have  to  stay  all  night  and  decided  to  try  to  get  off.  We 
lashed  our  guns,  and  the  natives  shoved  us  well  out 
from  shore,  but  the  moment  we  tried  to  sail,  our  boat 
keeled  over  on  her  beam  ends  and  half  filled  with  water. 
This  was  not  very  pleasant,  for  in  whatever  direction 


20  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

you  looked  you  could  see  the  play  of  a  shark's  fin.  The 
boat  soon  righted  but  the  wind  blew  so  hard  and  the 
waves  were  so  high,  that  we  found  we  could  neither 
return  to  the  shore  nor  go  towards  the  ship,  which  was 
about  seven  miles  awav,  and  in  such  a  direction  that  we 
should  have  to  run  before  the  wind.  Then,  whenever 
we  turned  towards  the  shore  the  breakers  drove  us  on 
the  rocks,  which  rose  all  about  us.  At  last  we  saw  a 
little  cove  where  it  seemed  as  if  we  might  be  safe  if  we 
could  only  reach  it,  and  we  decided  to  make  for  that  at 
all  hazards.  We  got  within  forty  feet  of  it,  and  began 
to  think  we  were  safe  at  last,  when  our  fore  sheet  got 
foul,  and  a  squall  just  then  striking  the  boat,  over  she 
went  in  spite  of  all,  and  if  the  foremast  had  not  been 
carried  away  I  do  not  suppose  I  should  be  writing  to 
you  now.  We  had  to  work  hard  to  right  the  boat,  and 
all  the  time  we  were  overboard,  which  was  about  two 
hours,  I  expected  to  be  bitten  by  a  shark,  and  the 
breakers  were  so  strong  they  would  continually  knock  us 
off  the  boat.  But  at  last  she  righted,  and  we  just  barely 
cleared  the  rocks,  landing  in  the  smooth  water  beyond. 
We  were  both  nearly  exhausted,  having  had  nothing  to 
eat  since  morning,  and  it  was  now  eight  in  the  evening. 
When  we  got  on  shore  my  companion  told  me  he  had 
been  bitten  by  a  shark  while  in  the  water,  so  we  rested 
a  little  while,  but  the  bite  was  not  very  deep,  and  then 
we  began  to  think  what  we  would  do. 

44  We  found  we  had  landed  close  to  an  impenetrable 
forest,  but  a  river  flowing  into  the  sea  just  there  made 
a  little  beach  where  we  could  move  about.  We  decided 
to  bail  out  the  boat  and  sleep  in  that,  if  the  wind  did 
not  go  down,  and  after  bailing  about  an  hour  we  got 
most  of  the  water  out  of  her.  The  moon  had  come  up 
by  this  time  and  the  wind  had  gone  down,  and  we  de 
termined  to  try  again  and  reach  the  ship.  This  time 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  2  I 

we  succeeded  after  about  three  hours'  sailing.  When 
we  arrived  on  board  we  found  the  Captain  and  the  other 
officers  had  been  very  anxious  about  us.  They  were 
afraid  we  had  been  driven  on  shore  among  the  breakers 
and  lost.  The  Captain  had  ordered  all  the  boats  to  be 
ready  at  sunrise  to  search  for  us.  When  my  companion 
got  on  board  he  was  hardly  able  to  walk,  but  I  was  only 
a  little  stiff  the  next  morning.  The  natives  thought  we 
had  had  a  wonderful  escape,  for  the  bay  is  full  of  sharks. 
This,  I  believe,  is  all  that  has  happened  to  me  since  I 
wrote  last." 

In  June,  1857,  he  hears  that  he  has  been  made  an 
uncle  and  writes,  "I  thought  a  great  deal  last  night 
about  the  new  baby,  and  I  do  not  know  but  that  I  ought 
to  write  a  special  letter  on  her  account,  yet,  although 
her  affectionate  uncle  has  joyfully  assumed  his  heavy 
responsibility,  he  feels  that  he  is  not  great  at  composi 
tion.  The  only  thing  he  could  think  of  to  do  was  to 
speak  for  the  under  jaw  of  a  large  shark,  which  they 
are  now  cutting  up  on  deck,  as  a  present  for  his  new 
niece.  He  is  sure  that  she  is  pretty  but  he  hardly  knows 
what  to  say  about  a  baby." 

Soon  after  this  date  the  Cyane  is  ordered  North. 
She  comes  to  Boston,  but  George's  spirits  sink  when  he 
finds  that  although  so  near,  he  cannot  come  home.  He 
writes,  "  I  could  not  help  thinking  as  I  walked  up  and 
down  on  the  morning  watch,  how  completely  I  have 
given  up  my  home,  and  how  little,  during  my  lifetime, 
I  shall  be  at  home  and  with  those  I  love  best.  Just 
think,  if  I  go  to  the  southward  again  I  shall  not  see  you 
for  a  year  more  at  least,  and  then  seven  long  years 
will  have  passed  away  since  I  left  you  all,  and  now  little 
I  have  seen  of  you  in  that  time  !  This  naval  life  is 
pleasant  enough  for  those  who  have  no  ties  to  bind  them, 
and  often  seems  pleasant  enough  to  me,  for  I  have  many 


22  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

good  friends  in  the  service  ;  we  are  often  anchored  at 
pleasant  stations  where  I  am  able  to  see  a  great  deal 
and  enjoy  delightful  society  ;  but  yet — I  wish  I  could  be 
more  at  home ;  and  sometimes  my  only  comfort  and  only 
cheerful  thought  is  the  knowledge  that  you  are  all  well 
there." 

The  Cyane  proceeds  to  the  northward  and  George 
writes  from  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  "As  I  had  the 
midwatch  last  night,  I  did  not  get  up  this  morning  when 
the  ship  was  brought  to,  so  when  I  went  on  deck  at 
about  eight  o'clock,  I  found  we  were  anchored  in  the 
most  beautiful  little  harbor  I  had  ever  seen  or  imagined. 
High  hills  nearly  surrounded  it,  and  most  picturesquely 
situated  on  one  of  these  stood  the  city.  It  looks  very 
pretty  from  the  ship,  but  they  say  it  does  not  prove  so 
attractive  on  a  nearer  view,  and  smells  throughout  most 
overpoweringly  fishy.  We  have  been  at  Halifax  since 
I  had  a  chance  to  write,  and  I  had  a  very  gay  time 
there.  But  during  my  gaieties  I  often  thought  of  you 
all,  and  wished  you  were  enjoying  everything  with  me. 
And  when  I  am  quiet,  as  well  as  when  I  am  gay, I  think 
of  you  all,  all  the  time  ;  and  between  all  the  alls  you 
get  pretty  much  all  my  thoughts." 

From  Newfoundland  the  ship  went  directly  to  Hamp 
ton  Roads,  Va.,  and  he  writes  from  there,  "  Your  letters 
were  all  received  at  last,  and  read  with  you  do  not  know 
what  pleasure  !  I  was  so  glad  to  hear  that  you  were  all 
well  and  passed  a  pleasant  Thanksgiving.  I  wish  I 
could  spend  one  at  home  with  all  the  family  ;  it  seems 
as  if  I  could  be  more  contented  then.  Do  you  know 
that  when  I  read  your  request  to  send  home  a  lock  of 
my  hair,  it  gave  me  a  regular  fit  of  the  blues?  To  think 
that  I  cannot  be  at  home  enough  to  make  that  unnec 
essary  !  But  you  shall  have  my  best  looking  lock. 
Perhaps  a  little  of  my  moustache  would  do.  It  is  really 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        23 

quite  a  respectable  one  now.  Well,  if  the  lock  of  hair 
enclosed  is  not  enough,  please  let  me  know  quick,  be 
cause  I  am  going  to  have  my  hair  cut  short." 

"  HAMPTON  ROADS,  VA.,  November  6,  1857. 
"The  steamer  has  just  come  in  and  they  all  got  let 
ters  but  me.  You  have  no  idea  how  much  good  a  letter 
does  one  on  board  ship.  If  you  could  only  see  with 
what  anxiety  the  officers  and  men  gather  around  the 
capstan  when  the  letters  are  given  out — and  especially 
your  brother — I  think  you  would  never  miss  writing." 

The  Cyane  was  next  ordered  to  Hayti  to  demand  the 
release  of  an  American  merchant  captain  whom  the 
Haytien  authorities  had  imprisoned.  But  when  she  ar 
rived,  it  was  found  that  the  difficulty  had  been  settled 
and  that  the  captain  had  returned  to  the  United  States. 
The  Cyane,  however,  remained  there  a  few  days  and 
gave  the  officers  a  chance  to  see  the  island.  George 
writes,  "  We  all  went  on  shore  and  the  place  is  really 
worth  seeing.  Cape  Haytien  was  built  and  owned  by 
the  French,  and  was  called  '  Little  Paris.'  In  1842  it 
was  shaken  down  by  an  earthquake  and  twenty  thou 
sand  inhabitants  buried  beneath  the  ruins.  It  is 
beautifully  situated  on  a  level  plateau,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  lofty  hills,  except  where  it  faces  the  bay.  The 
streets  are  paved  and  regularly  laid  out,  and  over  the 
ruined  houses  on  each  side  beautiful  vines  and  shrubbery 
are  growing  luxuriantly,  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  every 
branch  was  covered  with  beautiful,  bright-colored  birds 
who  sang  the  sweetest  notes  I  ever  heard.  It  all  made 
me  feel  very  romantic  as  I  walked  about.  There  must 
have  been  once  much  wealth  here,  judging  from  the  re 
mains  of  some  of  the  houses,  for  they  show  a  good  deal 
of  splendor.  About  twelve  miles  from  the  city,  on 
one  of  the  highest  hills,  is  a  very  large  and  strong 


24        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

castle  built  by  a  Count  Christophe.  He  used  to  bury 
there  every  year  a  large  sum  of  money  which  he 
took  from  the  revenues,  and  then  he  would  shoot  the 
negro  whom  he  made  bury  it,  so  that  no  one  would 
know  the  secret.  I  heard  several  other  yarns  about  the 
place,  which  I  have  not  time  to  tell  now.  The  negroes, 
who  are  in  possession  of  the  island,  assume  all  sorts  of 
titles.  There  is  an  emperor,  and  there  are  dukes,  lords, 
etc.  Some  of  them  are  quite  well  educated,  but  they 
all  put  on  such  dignified  airs  and  are  so  afraid  of  not 
being  thought  equal  to  white  folks,  that  many  of  them 
are  very  funny." 

In  January,  1858,  George  was  detached  from  the 
Cyane,  and  almost  immediately  ordered  to  the  Release, 
Commander  Wm.  G.  Parker.  This  vessel  was  first 
sent  as  supply  ship  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  after 
wards  to  South  America  with  the  Paraguay  expedition. 
George's  cruise  to  the  Mediterranean  occupied  three 
months,  nearly  all  the  time  being  spent  at  sea  in  the 
slow  sailing  ship,  but  during  his  short  stay  at  Spezia  he 
found  time  to  make  a  rapid  trip  to  some  of  the  famous 
Italian  cities.  He  modestly  deplores  his  own  inability  to 
appreciate  as  he  ought  the  wonderful  works  of  art  about 
him,  and  wishes  that  others  of  his  family  could  be  with 
him,  "  who,"  he  says,  "  could  understand  and  enjoy  it 
all."  He  found  time  to  choose  pretty  and  tasteful  gifts 
to  bring  home,  and  to  make  some  pleasant  acquaintances 
who  have  never  forgotten  him.  At  this  time  he  was 
very  fond  of  society,  and  in  one  social  accomplishment 
he  was  almost  without  a  peer.  His  quick  ear  for  music, 
and  perfect  ease  of  movement,  made  him  a  remarkably 
graceful  dancer,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  watch  him  on 
the  floor. 

At  the  time  of  his  return  to  the  United  States,  diffi 
culties  had  broken  out  between  our  government  and 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  25 

Paraguay.  The  notorious  Lopez  was  at  that  time  Pres 
ident  of  the  latter  republic,  and  was  not  inclined  to 
make  the  needful  amends  for  some  infraction  of  inter 
national  law.  The  United  States,  therefore,  sent  out  a 
large  fleet  under  command  of  Commodore  Shubrick, 
with  orders  to  demand  reparation,  or  to  make  war  in 
case  of  refusal.  The  Release  was  to  accompany  the 
expedition  as  storeship  ;  and  also  to  be  used  to  ascend 
the  rivers  where  vessels  of  heavier  draught  could  not 
go.  She  fitted  out  in  New  York,  and  during  that  time 
George  gratified  his  spirit  of  investigation  by  becoming 
familiar  with  every  part  of  the  city.  He  went  to  all 
the  theatres  and  places  of  amusement,  and  then,  with  a 
policeman,  visited  the  slums  and  low  haunts.  Of  the 
plays  he  sees  he  writes  with  all  the  brightness  and 
freshness  of  his  time  of  life.  "  They  seem  to  me  most 
beautiful,  and  perhaps  it  is  because  I  am  so  fresh  from 
sea,  but  often  the  scenes  on  the  stage  bring  tears  to  my 
eyes."  When  he  sees  the  horrible  condition  of  the 
other  parts  of  the  city,  he  says:  "I  could  not  have 
imagined  myself,  nor  can  I  possibly  convey  to  you  at 
home,  an  idea  of  the  misery  and  degradation  to  which 
human  nature  is  reduced  in  places  like  these."  And 
whatever  he  sees  and  hears,  it  seems  but  to  strengthen 
his  love  for  home. 

Being  made  the  confidant  of  some  family  troubles 
among  his  friends,  he  writes  :  "  You  cannot  think  how 
glad  I  feel  that  I  have  such  a  good  and  happy  home, 
and  I  am  very  blue  because  I  cannot  be  there  now. 
I  suppose  you  will  always  keep  Charlie  and  Tiger  ;* 
I  often  long  to  see  them.  It  seems  to  me  we  are  a 
great  deal  happier  and  better  off  in  many  ways  than 
the  majority  of  the  world.  So  many  people  do  not 
seem  to  be  really  happy.  They  laugh  and  talk,  but 

*  A  favorite  horse  and  dog. 


26  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

still  it  seems  as  though  there  was  always  a  sort  of 
unhappy  and  discontented  feeling  underneath.  If  they 
are  rich,  they  are  sick  with  dissipation,  and  if  they  are 
poor,  they  are  cross  because  they  have  n't  money 
enough  to  be  dissipated,  or  there  is  something  that  is 
wanting,  while  at  our  home  it  is  always  so  cheerful  and 
healthy  that  it  seems  as  if  any  one  might  live  forever, 
and  every  day  be  a  pleasant  one.  I  am  going  to  try 
and  have  a  dog,  something  like  Tige,  to  take  to  sea.  I 
miss  Polly  *  very  much,  and  when  you  have  chicken 
for  dinner  you  must  be  sure  and  give  him  some,  for  he 
is  very  fond  of  it." 

"  NEW  YORK,  U.  S.  S.  RELEASE,  Nov.  i,  1858. 
"  We  are  about  to  haul  out  into  the  stream,  and  very 
soon  all  communication  with  the  shore  will  be  broken 
off  and  sea  life  will  begin  in  its  reality.  If  we  have 
good  luck,  we  shall  get  to  Buenos  Ayres  in  forty-five 
days.  Forty-five  days!  Just  looking  at  the  horizon  ! 
But  still,  if  I  receive  letters  from  you  when  I  get  to 
Montevideo  and  you  are  well,  it  will  be  better  to  me 
than  seeing  the  land  ;  but  oh,  mother,  I  cannot  help 
wishing  that  I  could  stay  at  home,  indeed,  that  we 
could  all  always  live  at  home.  Yet  I  know  we  ought 
to  be  satisfied,  for  so  far  our  home  is  such  a  good  one/' 
To  his  sister  he  says,  "When  you  write  tell  me  every 
little  thing — how  you  passed  Thanksgiving  especially. 
I  wish  I  could  sit  around  the  *  festive  board  '  with  you 
then.  It  is  now  the  eighth  Thanksgiving  since  I  have 
been  at  home.  How  time  flies,  and  we  are  all  grow 
ing  old  quite  fast !  I  believe  now  that  mother  and 
father  are  younger  than  any  of  us,  and  it  is  such  a 
comfort  to  me  to  go  from  home  leaving  you  all  so 
well.  Be  sure  and  write  me  all  about  Hattie's  baby. 
I  should  like  to  keep  on  writing  and  writing,  for  this  let- 

*  A  parrot  he  brought  from  Central  America. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        2  7 

ter  seems  a  connecting  link  with  you  all,  and  I  hate  to 
break  it.  I  enclose  my  appointment  as  acting  master  ; 
please  put  it  with  my  other  papers." 

Instead  of  the  forty-five  days  reckoned  upon,  it  was 
sixty-three  before  the  Release  arrived  at  Montevideo. 
The  first  month  of  the  voyage  the  weather  was  bad  and 
it  was  hard  work,  and  much  of  the  time  it  was  "  watch 
and  watch  "  between  George  and  another  officer.  He 
writes  while  at  sea:  "We  had  no  pleasant  weather 
until  we  were  well  south,  and  then  it  came  on  calm, 
since  which  time  we  have  made  but  little  progress ; 
indeed,  for  a  week  we  have  almost  lain  still,  and  the 
captain  and  all  hands  begin  to  think  the  old  ship  is 
bewitched.  I  remained  upon  deck  to-night  when  the 
other  officers  went  to  the  cabin,  because  it  is  one -of 
those  beautiful  evenings  at  sea  from  which  I  cannot 
take  my  eyes,  but  no  sooner  was  I  alone  than  I  began 
to  think  of  you  all.  We  get  on  finely  together  on  board 
this  ship,  which  is  lucky,  as  we  have  such  a  long  pas 
sage.  A  sailor  is  singing  to  a  doleful  tune  something 
about  a  fair  lass  he  left  behind  him.  We  occasionally 
see  a  sail  on  the  horizon,  and  that  is  our  greatest  excite 
ment,  but  we  have  not  yet  spoken  any  ship." 

At  a  later  date  he  writes  :  "  We  have  passed  through 
the  trade-winds  and  are  now  in  the  doldrums,  and 
expect  the  S.  E.  trades  to-morrow.  It  is  very  warm. 
I  have  been  trying  to  catch  a  shark  that  has  been  play 
ing  about  the  ship  for  some  time.  We  catch  a  good 
many  flying  fish  and  they  are  very  good  eating." 

The  Release  next  had  a  long  and  tiresome  time  beat 
ing  around  Cape  St.  Roque,  and  his  next  date  is 
"  December  13,  1858.  We  are  now  further  off  than 
we  were  eight  days  ago.  We  shall  never  get  to  Buenos 
Ayres  at  this  rate.  A  ship  has  just  come  in  sight  and 
is  dead  ahead;  we  are  all  excited.  If  I  am  to  get  a 


28        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

chance  to  send  this  by  her,  I  can  write  no  more  now. 
I  am  very  well.  We  are  in  latitude  i°  north  ;  in  longi 
tude  35°." 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1859,  the  Release  arrived  at 
Montevideo,  where  George  finds  the  climate  delightful, 
and  is  greatly  pleased  to  discover  that  fine  horses  are 
plentiful  enough  for  him  to  have  all  the  riding  and 
driving  he  wants.  The  fleet  are  all  assembled,  and 
everything  is  animated  and  pleasant.  The  Spanish 
customs  are  novel,  and  he  has  an  opportunity  to  see  a 
bull  fight,  but  does  "  not  like  it  very  much,  though 
three  horses  and  five  bulls  are  killed." 

The  fleet  were  now  ordered  to  ascend  the  Parana 
river,  and  Commodore  Shubrick  went  up  as  far  as 
Corrientes  to  meet  Lopez.  George  writes  :  "The  dif 
ficulty  will  probably  be  settled  without  fighting,  though 
Lopez  has  a  large  army  and  fine  forts  and  is  quite  well 
prepared  to  receive  us  ;  and  if  we  get  into  a  row,  it 
may  go  rather  hard  with  us  at  first,  as  this  is  a  small 
vessel  and  can  go  up  the  river  whatever  happens.  I 
shall  probably  be  in  it,  which  I  shall  like,  on  the  whole, 
now  I  am  here.  As  we  come  up  through  the  country 
the  lower  classes  seem  to  be  almost  in  a  wild  state,  and 
the  little  huts  they  live  in  are  wretched,  but  they  are  all 
'beggars  on  horseback,'  and  ride  so  much  that  they 
can  hardly  walk,  horses  are  so  plenty.  In  the  towns 
the  business  is  chiefly  carried  on  by  English  and  Ger 
mans.  There  is  always  a  '  plaza'  in  the  towns,  where 
the  band  plays  evenings,  and  where  the  ladies  appear 
dressed  in  the  latest  fashions,  except  that  they  wear 
mantillas  instead  of  bonnets.  Game  is  plentiful  and  I 
have  fine  times  hunting,  especially  the  large  game  of 
the  pampas,  which  is  really  exciting.  I  am  anxious  to 
shoot  a  South  American  tiger."  This  George  finally 
accomplished  after  many  efforts  and  much  exposure. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  29 

"JANUARY    20. 

"  Our  fleet  is  now  coming  down  the  river,  for  our 
difficulty  with  the  Paraguayan  government  is  settled. 
We  are  taking  it  leisurely  and  I  am  enjoying  myself 
very  much.  I  go  hunting  and  fishing  every  day.  I 
never  saw  so  much  game.  The  trees  are  full  of  all 
sorts  of  birds  and  fish  are  just  as  plentiful  in  the  water, 
and  there  are  ducks  and  swans  and  monkeys  and 
snakes,  and  everything  that  flies  or  crawls  or  swims, 
that  I  ever  heard  of;  and  there  is  large  game  enough, 
too,  to  make  it  exciting.  The  river  is  high  now,  and 
the  country  is  so  inundated  that  I  can  penetrate  way 
into  the  forest  in  a  boat.  I  go  every  day,  but  don't  get 
any  chance  at  a  tiger,  though  I  often  think  I  am  on  the 
track  of  one,  but  it  generally  turns  out  to  be  a  river 
hog.  These  are  curious  creatures  ;  the  Spanish  call 
them  Capinchas.  I  do  n't  know  what  they  are  like. 
Their  heads  look  like  a  woodchuck,  only  a  great  deal 
larger,  for  some  of  them  weigh  four  hundred  pounds. 
The  flesh  of  the  young  ones  is  good  eating.  They  live 
in  kinds  of  nests  which  they  build,  half  in  and  half  out 
of  the  water.  The  other  day  I  destroyed  the  peace  of 
one  of  their  families  by  killing  the  mother  of  some 
young  ones,  and  the  old  father  came  for  me  in  an  awful 
rage  and  I  ran  to  the  boat  for  mv  life.  He  had  big, 
savage-looking  tusks,  and  I  was  lucky  to  escape  him. 

"  All  along  the  river  shore  are  villages,  consisting  of 
clusters  of  straw  huts,  and  in  the  evening  I  go  ashore, 
taking  with  me  our  pilot,  who  plays  the  guitar,  and  I 
have  a  dance  with  some  of  the  pretty  native  girls. 
There  is  a  dance  called  the  'samaquaker'  (I  don't 
know  if  that  is  spelled  right,  but  that  is  the  way  it 
sounds)  which  is  a  very  pretty  native  dance.  They  go 
through  it  so  gracefully  it  is  a  pleasure  to  watch  them. 
The  •  treat '  consists  of  the  native  drink  called  mate, 
served  hot,  and  we  drink  it  from  a  silver  cup." 


30  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"JANUARY    20. 

"I  had  quite  an  adventure  to-day,  and  almost  got 
my  tiger,  but  just  missed  it  enough  to  get  a  good  joke 
on  myself.  I  had  gone  in  a  boat  up  a  lagoon  to  hunt 
and  fish,  and  coming  to  a  little  stream  left  the  boat,  to 
hunt  on  shore,  the  boat  following  me.  As  I  went  along 
I  came  to  a  place  where  a  log  was  thrown  across  a 
stream  and  I  went  over  it ;  but  after  I  had  crossed  I 
heard  a  noise  behind  me,  and  looking  back  I  saw  a 
large  tiger  just  crossing  over  on  the  log  and  apparently 
on  my  trail.  As  I  had  nothing  with  me  but  a  shotgun, 
loaded  for  birds,  it  was  no  use  to  think  of  attacking 
him,  and  I  made  the  best  time  I  could  back  to  the  boat. 
He  did  not  pursue  me,  but  crawled  in  the  tall  grass 
close  by  the  water's  edge  where  the  stream  was  narrow, 
and  we  had  got  to  pass  him  rowing  down.  I  could 
see  by  the  motion  of  the  tall  jungle  grass  that  he  was 
lashing  his  tail,  and  as  we  drew  near  I  could  hear  him 
snarl.  I  can  tell  you  the  boat  shot  by  that  place  like 
an  arrow.  I  went  back  to  the  ship  as  quick  as  I  could, 
and  taking  an  officer  with  me  and  proper  fire-arms  to 
attack  such  game,  rowed  back  to  the  place  where  I  left 
the  tiger.  Sure  enough,  there  he  was,  as  I  supposed. 
We  rowed  up  cautiously,  for  I  did  not  want  to  miss  fire, 
knowing  I  had  an  ugly  customer  to  deal  with.  At  last, 
I  could  see  two  bright  eyes  peering  at  me  through  the 
grass — then  I  was  sure.  I  took  aim  and  fired — the  eyes 
disappeared — and  there  was  a  short  struggle  under  the 
grass  and  bushes.  I  waited  till  all  was  quiet,  and  then 
ventured  in  to  the  spot  very  carefully,  but  much  elated 
at  the  thought  that  I  had  got  a  tiger  at  last,  when  there, 
stretched  out  at  length,  was  an  immense  river  hog  ! 
Well,  we  had  a  good  laugh  about  it,  but  those  river 
hogs  had  cheated  me  so  often  when  I  had  been  after  a 
tiger,  that  I  was  really  pretty  mad." 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  31 

"JANUARY  24. 

*'  At  last  I  have  killed  my  tiger,  and  in  the  most 
unexpected  way.  I  did  not  have  to  go  beating  about 
the  jungle,  or  look  for  one  at  the  water's  edge  at  night, 
or  anything  like  that ;  but  to-day,  as  we  were  anchored 
near  the  bank,  three  tigers  plunged  in  the  river  right 
ahead  of  the  ship.  I  got  out  a  boat  in  no  time,  and 
was  on  the  river  pulling  after  them.  The  current 
drew  them  towards  us,  and  one  of  them  turned  and 
made  for  the  boat ;  his  ears  curled  back,  his  jaws  wide 
open  and  snarling,  and  looking  terribly  fierce  and 
angry.  I  was  so  afraid  of  not  hitting  him  that  I  waited 
till  he  was  close  on  the  boat  before  firing,  and  the  men 
cried  out — for  they  said  afterwards  that  he  was  so  near 
that  if  he  had  been  wounded,  or  I  had  missed,  we 
should  have  been  done  for.  But  the  ball  struck  him 
fair,  and  in  an  instant  he  turned  over  dead.  The  cur 
rent  swept  him  off  and  directly  he  sank  out  of  sight. 
At  the  noise  of  the  report  the  other  tigers  swerved  aside 
and  went  down  stream.  I  was  sorry  that  I  lost  the  one 
I  shot,  for  I  wanted  his  skin  ;  but  it  is  a  comfort  to 
think  I  did  shoot  a  tiger  at  last,  and  as  it  was  in  full 
view  of  the  ship  I  shall  not  lack  proof,  even  if  I  do  not 
have  his  skin  to  show." 

At  Montevideo,  George  was  transferred  from  the 
Release  to  the  Sabine  in  order  to  return  with  others  of 
his  classmates  to  the  United  States,  for  their  passed- 
midshipman  examination. 

He  received  the  following  commendatory  letters  from 
the  officers  with  whom  he  had  sailed,  and  he  was  much 
gratified  at  their  unwavering  praise,  for  upon  compar 
ing  notes  with  his  other  classmates  he  found  that  his 
superior  officers  had  written  with  unusual  warmth  in 
his  favor.  And  I  will  say  here  that,  as  a  young  man, 
George  was  very  modest  in  his  estimate  of  himself,  but 


32  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

inclined  to  think  highly  of  the  gifts  of  others.  The  old- 
fashioned  New  England  education  of  his  early  days  had 
not  accustomed  him  to  much  flattery.  As  a  young  man, 
he  always  "  got  along"  with  others,  and  always  in  his 
letters  spoke  well  of  his  officers,  often  affectionately, 
and  led  a  pleasant  life  with  them  on  board  ship. 

FROM  CAPTAIN  KOBE  OF  THE  CYANE. 
"  SIR  : 

"It  affords  me  pleasure  to  state,  that  while  you  were  under  my 
command  on  board  the  U.  S.  S.  Cyane,  your  character  was  irreproach 
able,  your  attention  to  duty  prompt,  and  your  obedience  to  orders 
ready  and  willing. 

"I  am  respectfully,  yr.  obt.  servant, 

"ROBT.   G.   ROBB,  Comd'r." 


FROM    CAPTAIN    PARKER    OF    THE    RELEASE. 
"  SIR  : 

"  As  you  are  about  to  return  to  the  United  States  for  the  purpose 
of  attending  your  examination,  allow  me  to  wish  you  a  successful  ter 
mination  thereto.  Since  you  have  been  attached  to  this  vessel,  during 
a  period  extending  over  fourteen  months,  as  a  watch  officer  in  charge 
of  the  deck,  and  most  of  the  time  as  acting  master,  I  have  always 
found  your  judgment  good  and  your  navigation  correct,  thus  meriting 
my  entire  approbation.  I  wish  you  a  speedy  passage  home  and  a 
happy  meeting  with  your  family  and  friends. 

"  Sincerely  and  truly  your  friend, 

"WM.  A.  PARKER, 
"  Lt.  Comd'g.  U.  S.  S.  Release." 
"Mid'n 

"  GEORGE  H.  PERKINS, 

"  ActV  Master  U.  S.  S.  Released 


FROM    CAPTAIN    ADAMS    OF    THE    SABINE. 

"Midshipman  George  H.  Perkins,  who  came  home  on  this  ship 
from  Montevideo,  displayed  so  much  zeal  and  intelligence  in  discharge 
of  his  duties  during  the  time,  that  I  have  great  pleasure  in  stating  I 
entertain  the  highest  opinion  of  his  abilities  and  correct  morals." 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON     PERKINS.  33 

After  he  had  passed  his  examination,  George  was 
able  to  spend  three  happy  months  at  his  "  beloved 
home."  There  everything  was  done  to  make  his  visit 
pleasant,  and  his  own  bright,  active,  cheery  spirit  had 
also  made  it  a  delightful  time  to  his  family  and  friends. 
The  last  of  August,  1859,  he  was  ordered  to  the  west 
coast  of  Africa  as  acting  master  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Sumter* 
The  cruising  ground  of  our  ships  on  this  station  was 
from  Liberia  to  St.  Paul  de  Landa,  which  embraced 
the  gold,  ivory,  and  slave  coasts.  It  was  a  range  that, 
afforded  strange  adventures,  and  novel  experiences  in 
life,  if  one  would  brave  the  dangers  of  landing  through 
the  surf  on  an  unfamiliar  coast.  On  this  coast,  from 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  there 
is  scarcely  a  tolerable  harbor,  and  the  Atlantic  rolls  in 
its  huge  breakers,  with  unbroken  force,  along  this  end 
less  stretch  of  shore. 

This  African  station  was  usually  considered  very 
dull  and  monotonous  ;  it  lacked  any  attraction  of  civil 
ized  life,  and  was  called  the  most  unpleasant  in  a  naval 
officer's  experience.  It  is  only  the  older  officers  in  the 
service  who  can  now  speak  of  its  trials,  as  since  the 
abolition  of  slavery  our  government  no  longer  keeps  a 
squadron  there. 

But  here  George's  adventurous  disposition  at  least 
found  full  play,  and  neither  the  dangers  of  the  coast 
and  climate,  nor  the  dullness  of  its  few  savage  attrac 
tions,  could  permanently  depress  his  bright  and  deter 
mined  spirit.  But  when  he  first  left  home,  and  went  to 
New  York  to  join  his  ship,  he  had  such  an  attack  of 
homesickness  that  it  is  really  heartrending  to  read  his 
last  letters,  even  now  when  twenty-seven  years  have 
passed  since  they  were  written. 

Nothing  that  all  the  great  and  gay  city  of  New  York 
contains  can  divert  him.  He  goes  with  a  naval  friend 
3 


34        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

to  Islip,  a  quiet  watering-place  on  Long  Island,  to  pass 
away  the  time  until  the  officers  can  take  up  their  abode 
on  the  ship. 

He  writes  :  "  All  the  officers  of  the  ship  are  from 
the  South,  and  are  strangers  to  me,  except  the  doctor, 
whose  name  is.  Otis,  and  who  came  from  Boston.  I  am 
planning  and  trying  to  get  home  again  if  only  for  a 
day."  He  finds  this  impossible,  and  then  tries  to  per 
suade  some  of  the  family  to  come  to  New  York  and 
see  him.  He  makes  every  suggestion  he  can  think  of 
in  favor  of  the  trip,  and  plans  the  route,  etc.  Later  on, 
when  settled  onboard  ship,  he  writes  :  "  The  Captain 
tells  us  we  are  to  have  a  pretty  hard  cruise  ;  that  he 
has  strict  orders  to  confine  it  to  our  cruising  ground  on 
the  African  coast,  and  that  we  cannot  stop  at  Madeira 
at  all.  We  are  now  settled  on  board  ship,  and  I  begin 
to  miss  my  room  at  home.  The  one  that  I  am  to 
occupy  the  next  two  years  is  six  feet  long  and  three 
feet  wide — some  difference  you  see  !  We  have  one  offi 
cer,  a  lieutenant,  who  is  known  throughout  the  service 
as  'Little  Jack  Stewart,'  and  who  is  so  funny  that 
he  keeps  us  in  roars  of  laughter  whenever  he  is  on 
board.  He  will  be  a  great  help  in  keeping  up  our 
spirits,  for  the  African  coast  is  said  to  be  trying  to  a 
man,  and  will  bring  out  all  our  characters.  As  I  am 
Master  I  have  a  great  deal  to  do,  and  to-day  I  have 
been  busy  all  the  time  getting  in  stores.  When  I  have 
been  ashore  in  New  York  I  have  met  a  good  many  of 
my  friends,  and  no  doubt  might  have  had  a  very  gay 
time,  but  I  have  wanted  nothing  except  to  go  home,  or 
to  see  some  one  from  home  ;  and  now  that  I  can  do 
neither  I  wish  I  was  at  sea,  for  the  quicker  I  go 
the  quicker  I  shall  come  back.  We  are  in  three 
watches,  which  is  harder  than  I  expected.  The 
arrangements  for  comfort  on  board  the  Sumter  are  not 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        35 

very  complete,  and  the  ship  is  not  very  fast  nor  much 
on  beauty." 

"  SEPTEMBER  2,  1859. 

"We  have  had  full  dress  muster  this  afternoon  and 
I  made  my  first  appearance  in  my  epaulettes  and  cocked 
hat,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  I  was  a  glorious 
sight ! 

"Captain  Armstrong  is  very  pleasant  and  kind  to 
me.  As  these  are  the  last  days  before  the  ship  sails,  his 
wife  stays  on  board  a  good  deal,  and  she  feels  very 
badly  about  his  going  away.  She  was  talking  with  me 
this  afternoon  and  said  that  she  could  not  realize  that 
her  husband  was  going  away  for  so  long  a  while. 
They  have  been  married  eighteen  months  and  this  will 
be  the  first  separation.  I  often  see  her  in  the  cabin  in 
tears,  and  I  feel  very  sorry  for  her,  and  so,  I  think, 
this  is  what  it  is  to  be  a  captain's  wife  !  I  have  the  mid- 
watch  to-night,  and  'you  bet'  I  shall  be  awful  home 
sick,  and  think  of  you  all  the  time  during  my  lonely 
watch." 

Two  days  after  this  date  the  pilot  brings  back  his 
last  good-by  letter,  and  the  Sumter  is  fairly  off  for  the 
dreaded  West  Coast  of  Africa.  When  the  ship  arrives 
at  Prince's  Island,  about  sixty  miles  from  the  coast,  he 
writes  under  date  of 

"  OCTOBER  25,  1859. 

"  We  have  come  to  anchor  in  a  beautiful  harbor  on 
the  west  side  of  Prince's  Island.  We  came  here  for 
water  only,  and  we  sail  to-morrow  for  Fernando  Po. 
This  island  is  a  Portuguese  possession,  I  mean  under 
the  dominion  of  Portugal,  but  is  owned  by  a  French 
woman  who  lives  at  the  northern  extremity.  The  pro 
ductions  are  the  same  as  in  any  tropical  climate,  and 
the  atmosphere  is  so  humid  that  it  makes  the  heat  es- 


36        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

pecially  intolerable.  The  inhabitants  are  mostly  slaves 
belonging  to  the  French  woman.  I  have  not  got  over 
my  homesickness,  and  though  I  hear  the  scenery  is 
fine,  I  do  not  yet  feel  any  inclination  to  go  ashore." 

"  NOVEMBER  i,  1859. 

"  We  are  now  at  Fernando  Po,  and  are  here  to  gain 
what  knowledge  we  can  of  its  facilities  for  a  coal  depot. 
It  is  an  island  close  to  the  coast  and  belongs  to  Spain. 
The  Spanish  are  trying  to  establish  a  colony  here,  but 
it  is  too  unhealthy,  and  the  whites  will  not  live  long 
enough  to  get  acclimated.  The  native  inhabitants  are 
wild  and  warlike.  They  inhabit  the  mountains,  and 
subsist  chiefly  on  wild  fruits.  They  will  not  work  for 
love  or  money. 

"  At  present  there  are  several  Spanish,  French,  and 
English  men-of-war  here,  and  a  week  ago  one  of  the 
English  ships  captured  an  American  slaver  with  five 
hundred  negroes  on  board.  The  English  make  a  good 
many  captures,  as  their  government  sustains  the  efforts 
to  put  down  the  slave-trade  better  than  ours. 

"  I  have  suffered  a  good  deal  from  a  tarantula  bite 
on  my  hand,  which  swelled  so  badly  that  I  was 
alarmed  about  it,  but  it  is  getting  well  now,  and  I  am 
thankful  to  sav  it  is  not  so  painful.  The  prospect  now 
for  our  cruise  is  that  it  will  be  very  tiresome  and  have 
very  little  variety.  At  our  stations  there  is  no  one  to 
be  found  but  a  few  white  people  scattered  among  a  lot 
of  negroes.  Last  Saturday  I  dined  with  the  Spanish 
governor  of  Fernando  Po,  and  he  has  succeeded  in 
living  here  thirty-three  years.  He  has  a  black  wife 
and  a  family  of  black  children.  We  did  not  see  his 
wife,  but  he  gave  us  a  fine  dinner,  and  we  passed  quite 
a  pleasant  day. 

"Coming    here   we    sailed    by    Cape    Coast    Castle,. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        37 

where  Governor  McLean  lived  and  where  he  is  buried. 
He  was  well  known  on  the  coast,  and  our  officers  liked 
him  very  much.  He  was  the  husband  of  L.  E.  L.,  the 
poetess,  and  I  can  remember  when  he  came  to  America 
in  one  of  father's  ships  and  visited  us. 

"  We  are  going  from  here  to  Congo  River,  and  I 
have  great  hopes  that  we  shall  capture  one  or  two 
prizes ;  that  will  be  some  compensation  for  being  on 
this  station. 

"  What  a  happy  time  I  had  at  home  those  last  three 
months  !  I  am  constantly  recalling  it,  and  wishing  those 
days  could  come  back  again." 

"  NOVEMBER  29,  1859. 

"We  are  back  at  Fernando  Po,  which  is  the  most 
civilized  of  any  place  we  have  visited  yet.  The  old 
Spanish  governor  is  very  hospitable,  and  when  we  go 
ashore  we  spend  the  day  at  his  home.  We  manage  to 
have  a  tolerably  pleasant  time,  and  among  the  Spanish 
officers  here  are  some  fine  fellows. 

"  Hammie  and  Frank  must  write  often  if  they  expect 
me  to  bring  them  home  a  parrot,  for  I  am  going  to  get 
some  as  soon  as  we  go  to  the  Congo.  The  other  day  we 
boarded  a  ship  called  the  'Firefly^  and  it  was  the  same 
one  father  took  me  on  board  of  years  ago  in  Boston. 
She  was  suspected  of  being  a  slaver  then,  and  might 
lie  under  the  same  suspicion  now.  If  father  was  in 
business  now  and  had  some  vessels  here,  I  could  attend 
to  his  affairs  for  him,  and  might  even  send  him  a  whole 
cargo  of  negroes  if  he  said  so  !  " 

"  NOVEMBER  30,  1859. 

**  We  started  last  night  for  a  cruise  in  the  Bight  of 
Benin,  and  the  coast  looks  much  more  interesting  than 
I  expected.  The  inhabitants  though  are  miserable 
wretches,  whose  whole  business  is  the  slave  trade." 


38  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  DECEMBER  6,  1859. 

"  The  Captain  and  myself  took  breakfast  this  morning 
with  King  Te,  a  celebrated  old  negro  on  this  part  of  the 
coast.  The  breakfast  was  served  up  in  great  style,  for 
he  is  quite  rich,  having  made  a  great  deal  of  money  in 
the  slave-trade;  it  was  all  very  novel,  but  I  found  it  a 
little  difficult  to  swallow  some  of  the  food. 

"  Speaking  of  one  feast  reminds  me  of  another.  I 
forgot  to  tell  you  about  the  way  we  kept  Thanksgiving. 
The  Commodore  fixed  it  on  Nov.  6  for  the  fleet.  On 
that  clay  we  were  off  Lagos,  a  noted  slave  station.  It 
was  very  hot,  and  every  single  one  of  our  surroundings 
was  as  different  from  anything  in  New  England  as  it 
was  possible  for  things  to  be.  We  had  a  big  dinner, 
though,  and  did  our  best  to  celebrate.  The  King  of  the 
Dahomeys,  which  is  a  warlike  tribe  on  the  coast,  sup 
plies  most  of  the  slave-traders  by  selling  them  his  pris 
oners  of  war.  He  is  very  angry  about  so  many  vessels 
being  sent  to  stop  the  slave-trade. 

"  During  the  past  year  this  cruel  king  has  been  sac 
rificing  a  great  many  slaves  on  account  of  his  father's 
death.  He  never  sacrifices  less  than  five  a  day,  and 
sometimes  he  has  killed  as  many  as  five  hundred  in  one 
day  !  On  hearing  of  the  capture  of  the  Harris,  loaded 
with  slaves,  he  was  so  angry  that  he  had  all  those  vic 
tims  whom  he  sacrificed  on  that  day  dressed  in  European 
costume,  and  then  hung  them  up  in  all  sorts  of  ways, 
saying  he  would  '  Let  them  know  how  he  would  treat 
white  slaves.'  A  few  days  ago  an  English  commodore 
paid  a  visit  to  a  tribe  in  the  interior,  and  the  chief  enter 
tained  him  by  beheading  fifty  slaves  in  honor  of  his 
visit!" 

December  10,  1859,  George  writes  his  younger 
brother  that  the  Sumtcr  has  been  cruising  about  without 
seeing  a  sail,  and  that  "  When  the  ship  is  hove  to  we 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        39 

make  the  time  pass  with  a  little  shark  fishing,  which  I 
think  such  a  fisherman  as  you  are  would  enjoy.  Yes 
terday  I  harpooned  a  tremendous  fellow,  and  we  all  had 
a  great  time  getting  him  on  board.  There  are  so  many 
sharks  round  the  ship  all  the  time  that  we  have  to  be 
very  careful  not  to  fall  overboard,  for  once  in  the  water 
there  would  be  no  help  for  us. 

*'  If  we  catch  a  slaver  perhaps  I  shall  come  home  in 
charge  of  her,  though  the  officers  that  have  had  charge 
of  prizes  taken  out  here  tell  awful  stories  of  the  passage 
to  Monrovia  with  slaves  on  board.  Even  when  there  is 
no  disease  or  sickness  among  the  slaves,  the  smell  that 
rises  from  the  ship's  hole  is  so  horrible  that  it  makes  and 
keeps  one  sick  all  the  time.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
learn  to  endure  it  so  as  to  perform  duty.  One  officer, 
writing  from  Monrovia,  says  nothing  would  tempt  him 
to  take  charge  of  another  prize,  and  he  was  quite  lucky, 
the  slaves  only  dying  at  the  rate  of  five  a  day  !  " 

"  LAGOS,  December  15,  1859. 

"  We  have  just  come  in  here  to  mail  our  letters.  We 
hear  that  the  King  of  Dahomey  has  finished  his  yearly 
.sacrifices,  and  has  killed  slaves  enough  to  float  his 
canoe  in  their  blood  ! 

"  We  have  been  out  to  the  Elobey  Island,  where  we 
were  sent  by  the  Commodore  to  survey  the  harbor  and 
make  a  general  report  about  things  there.  But  there 
was  nothing  on  or  about  these  islands  to  make  them  of 
any  use,  either  as  a  coal  depot  or  for  any  other  of  our 
purposes,  and  we  were  glad  to  get  away. 

"  Captain  Armstrong  expects  to  be  ordered  to  the 
San  Jacinto,  which  is  one  of  our  largest  side  wheel 
steamers.  He  says  he  has  got  permission  from  the 
Commodore  to  take  me  with  him.  Our  Captain  stands 
quite  high  in  the  Commodore's  estimation,  who  is  much 


40        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

pleased  with  his  report  and  with  the  condition  of  this 
ship,  and  he  lets  him  do  as  he  thinks  best  about  things; 
this  makes  it  pleasanter  all  round,  though  our  first  lieu 
tenant  has  become  disgusted  with  the  coast  and  re 
signed. 

"  I  must  tell  you  that  I  let  him  have  that  overcoat 
which  I  brought  from  home.  I  hated  to  part  with  it, 
because  whenever  I  put  it  on  it  wraps  me  up  in  so  many 
pleasant  associations,  and  calls  up  so  many  pleasant 
reminiscences,  that  I  often  have  a  good  laugh  thinking 
over  the  good  times  that  the  old  coat  puts  me  in  mind  of. 

"Our  cruising  is  likely  to  become  terribly  monoto 
nous  at  this  rate.  It  is  very  hot  and  unhealthy  and  we 
do  not  dare  to  go  on  shore  ;  and  in  spite  of  precautions, 
we  already  have  some  cases  of  fever  on  board." 

Later  on.  George  does  venture  on  shore,  and  comes 
to  grief  by  shaking  hands  with  the  King  of  the  Boobes, 
by  which  he  catches  an  eruption  in  the  skin  of  his 
hands.  This  was  the  chief  of  a  tribe,  who  occasionally 
came  down  from  the  mountains  to  get  supplies,  and 
George  afterwards  learns  that  they  are  never  known  to 
wash  themselves.  Indeed,  his  experience  in  Africa 
inclined  him  to  endorse  Darwin's  evolution  theories, 
except  that  he  asserts  the  monkeys  are  rather  superior 
to  some  negro  tribes  he  saw. 

The  U.  S.  S.  Fulton,  which  belonged  to  the  squad 
ron,  sailed  from  the  United  States  about  the  time  of  the 
Sumler^  but  was  lost  in  a  gale.  The  news  had  reached 
George  by  this  time,  and  he  writes  home,  in  answer  to 
inquiries,  that  "  Coming  over  we  encountered  the  same 
gale  that  she  did,  but  as  you  see  we  were  more  fortu 
nate." 

At  some  point  a  little  north  of  St.  Paul  de  Loanda  he 
hears  of  the  gorilla,  a  creature  whose  existence  was 
hardly  credited  in  1859,  an<^  tnus  ne  writes  of  it: 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        4! 

"  They  have  lately  discovered  another  species  of  the 
monkey  race  called  the  gorilla.  It  is  a  large  and  very 
hideous  animal,  walks  erect  on  its  hind  legs,  and  the 
largest  ones  are  about  seven  feet  tall.  One  was  killed 
the  other  day,  and  measured  nine  feet  from  the  tips  of 
his  fingers  across  his  outspread  arms.  They  are  very 
powerful  and  sometimes  attack  whole  villages,  and  the 
natives  are  very  much  afraid  of  them.  It  is  dangerous 
to  attack  them  unless  you  are  sure  of  your  aim,  for  they 
are  worse  than  a  lion  when  they  are  wounded.  I  should 
like  to  see  one,  but  in  this  part  of  the  coast  it  is  so  un 
healthy  I  cannot  go  on  shore,  so  I  spend  all  my  spare 
time  thinking  of  you  at  home  and  of  all  the  pleasant 
times  I  had  last  summer." 

George  did,  however,  succeed  in  seeing  a  gorilla  and 
tried  to  capture  one  alive.  A  "gorilla  boy  "  was  at  last 
procured  through  his  efforts,  and  fastened  up  on  shore 
in  the  most  secure  manner,  but  it  escaped  one  night,  for 
growing  stronger  all  the  time  it  was  capable  to  break 
from  any  means  of  confinement  they  could  use.  George 
afterwards  obtained  some  gorilla  skeletons  which  he 
gave  to  Dr.  Otis,  who  sent  them  home  to  the  Massa 
chusetts  Natural  History  Society,  and  received  their 
most  cordial  thanks  for  such  a  "rare  addition  to  the 
museum." 

"  DECEMBER  29,  1859. 

"  For  the  last  week  we  have  been  on  the  track  of  an 
American  slaver,  which  has  been  a  little  variety  for  us. 
We  were  in  company  with  the  English  man-of-war 
Cedusa,  and  it  being  Xmas  time  we  exchanged  festivi 
ties  and  had  dinner  parties,  excursions  on  shore,  etc. 
We  went  to  visit  the  different  chiefs,  and  have  *  palavers  ' 
about  the  slave-trade.  It  is  a  rich  sight  to  see  one  of 
these  old  negro  chiefs,  with  his  wives  and  slaves;  they 
have  quite  an  idea  how  to  live  and  are  often  very  sharp, 


42  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

and  if  one  is  not  interested  in  the  business  part  of  the 
palaver  he  cannot  help  being  in  such  a  phase  of  human 
life,  and  in  all  the  singularities  of  nature,  both  animal 
and  vegetable,  on  a  coast  like  this. 

"  We  meet  a  good  many  slavers  who  carry  on  the 
traffic  as  '  palm  oil  traders,'  and  there  are  a  great  many 
vessels  engaged  in  the  slave-trade,  so  that  I  cannot  help 
hoping  we  shall  make  a  capture  ;  but  under  the  present 
system  it  is  almost  useless  for  us  to  try  to  do  anything 
to  stop  the  slave-trade:  our  cruisers  cannot  do  much 
under  our  laws,  and  the  English  make  the  principal 
captures.  Slaves  are  being  constantly  shipped,  and  the 
King  of  Dahomey  is  now  on  a  slave  hunt  to  supply 
some  ships  which  he  expects  from  the  States.  He  is  a 
cruel  old  rascal,  and  says  if  he  cannot  sell  his  slaves  he 
will  kill  them  for  a  sacrifice,  and  they  will  beg  to  go  in 
a  slaver  rather  than  be  in  his  hands.  We  heard  terri 
ble  accounts  of  him  while  we  were  in  the  Bight  of 
Benin." 

"JANUARY    iS,    i860. 

"Our  cruising  ground  is  now  between  the  equator 
and  St.  Paul  de  Loanda.  Captain  Armstrong  has  gone 
to  command  the  San  Jacinto,  but  owing  to  resignations 
and  a  short  supply  of  officers,  I  could  not  leave  this 
ship  to  go  with  him.  We  now  have  Captain  McDon- 
ough. 

"You  ask  me  'How  I  look?'  Well,  I  am  just  the 
same  size  as  ever — just  the  same  'little  fellow' — and  I 
have  given  up  all  hopes  of  growing  any  taller  ;  but  I 
think  I  look  a  good  deal  older,  for  this  climate  tells  on 
a  man.  A  great  many  break  down  completely  when 
exposed  to  it.  Five  officers  and  several  men  have 
already  been  condemned  by  medical  survey  and  sent 
home. 

"All   labor   connected  with   the  ships,  that  involves 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  43 

going  on  shore,  has  to  be  done  by  negroes  hired  for  the 
purpose  as  no  white  sailor  could  do  it  and  live,  the  cli 
mate  is  so  deadly." 

"  FERNANDO  Po,  February  12,  1860. 

"  Nearly  all  the  squadron  are  here  now,  and  the  offi 
cers  enjoy  seeing  each  other  very  much.  As  for  me,  I 
feel  as  if  I  were  having  my  last  good  time,  for  the  Cap 
tain  showed  me  his  orders  last  night,  and  we  are  to 
cruise  all  the  year  on  the  wildest  and  most  uncivilized 
parts  of  the  coast;  recruiting  finally  at  Elephant's  Bay, 
which  is  a  miserable  place,  but  has  the  merit  of  being 
healthy.  We  have  no  hope  of  Madeira  or  any  pleasant 
change. 

4'  Lieutenant  Stewart  is  to  be  married  when  we  go 
home,  and  I  have  just  promised  him  to  go  to  North 
Carolina  and  stand  up  with  him.  Just  now  he  is  writ 
ing  a  long  letter  to  his  sweetheart.  He  is  so  full  of  fun 
I  do  not  know  what  we  should  do  without  him,  and  we 
have  all  lived  on  this  ship  very  pleasantly  together." 

"  FEBRUARY  13,  1860. 

"  The  mail  to-day  brings  us  very  exciting  news,  all 
about  the  Southern  insurrection.  I  cannot  take  much 
stock  in  it,  nor  credit  such  an  awful  thing  as  any  pros 
pect  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

"I  see  by  the  papers  that  General  Peaslee  is  going 
to  settle  in  Concord,  and  I  should  think  you  would  be 
glad.  A  good  many  of  the  officers  know  him,  and 
speak  of  him  in  the  highest  terms." 

"  FEBRUARY  18,  1860. 

"We  are  all  ordered  to  Kabenda,  as  news  has  been 
received  that  the  negroes  are  going  to  rise  on  the  white 
people  there,  murder  them  and  burn  the  factories,  and 
then  run  for  the  bush  where  no  white  man  can  follow 
them.  So  we  expect  a  big  row." 


44  LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  FEBRUARY  25,  1860. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  Kabenda  we  found  the  natives 
at  war  with  the  Portuguese,  whom  they  had  whipped 
badly  and  driven  back  to  St.  Paul  de  Loanda,  with 
quite  a  loss.  The  chiefs  said  they  had  nothing  against 
the  Americans  and  would  not  touch  or  interfere  with 
them  ;  so  we  did  not  land  our  forces  but  stood  up  for 
Majumba,  in  order  to  meet  the  mail  steamer.  When 
we  did  so,  I  received  my  long-looked-for  and  much- 
longed-for  letter  from  home. 

"  Be  sure  and  give  the  nicest  messages  you  can  think 
of  to  those  lady  friends  of  mine  at  home,  who  remember 
me  and  inquire  for  me ;  for  as  I  have  not  seen  a  white 
woman  for  six  months,  I  feel  quite  timid  and  self- 
distrustful,  and  am  afraid  any  messages  of  my  own 
composition  would  be  sadly  amiss.  You  will  certainly 
tell  them  the  exact  truth  if  you  give  them  my  love  and 
say  that  I  have  not  spent  a  happy  hour  since  I  left 
Concord. 

"  As  I  am  caterer  of  the  mess,  I  go  on  shore  a  good 
deal,  and  have  a  good  chance  to  see  all  there  is  of  Afri 
can  life.  I  have  become  acquainted  with  all  the  prin 
cipal  chiefs  on  the  cruising  ground,  and  find  that  the 
slave-trade  is  carried  on  to  a  great  extent. 

"  Within  the  last  two  weeks  three  or  four  cargoes 
have  been  taken  from  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  and  one 
of  the  chiefs  told  me  of  some  slavers  being  up  that 
river.  I  gave  the  information  to  Captain  McDonough, 
and  we  started  up,  but  although  we  ascended  far 
enough  to  find  the  navigation  difficult,  the  slavers' 
draught  was  too  light  for  us,  and  the  Captain  ordered 
the  Sumter  back,  and  we  returned  with  only  the  empty 
honor  of  having  gone  farther  up  the  Congo  than  any 
other  man-of-war. 

"  On  our  way  down  we  stopped  and  ran  up  a  creek 


LE'ITERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  45 

to  visit  a  French  slave  factory.  The  French  make  a 
government  affair  of  the  trade  and  have  several  slave 
barracoons  on  the  coast,  and  ship  off  large  numbers. 
But  the  slaves  shipped,  according  to  the  French  condi 
tions,  are  liberated  after  serving  seven  years,  and  if 
they  choose  can  come  back  to  this  coast. 

"  These  French  people  were  very  polite  tons,  showed 
us  their  barracoons  and  slave  ships,  and  all  the  slaves 
that  were  there  ready  to  be  shipped.  They  amounted 
to  several  hundred,  and  were  kept  in  good  discipline 
by  a  few  powerful  negroes  and  a  moderate  allowance 
of  whipping.  We  found  the  barracoons  in  excellent 
order,  everything  clean  and  well  regulated,  and  the 
slaves  went  through  a  series  of  performances  for  our 
entertainment.  They  danced  their  native  dances,  and 
sung  native  songs,  and  had  some  of  their  native  games, 
and  it  was  peculiar  and  interesting,  and  we  enjoyed  it. 
Indeed,  our  stay  there  was  an  improvement  on  any 
thing  we  have  had  on  the  coast  so  far. 

"  We  came  down  the  Congo  and  started  for  Loango, 
but  finding  we  were  short  of  coal  went  to  St.  Paul  de 
Loanda,  where  we  met  several  of  our  squadron.  Our 
pleasant  trip  had  rather  a  melancholy  ending,  for  Cap 
tain  McDonough  is  to  be  superseded  in  his  command 
on  account  of  the  unsatisfactory  state  of  his  health." 

"  MARCH   12,  1860. 

"  Why  do  you  people  at  home  not  write  to  me?  Do 
you  not  know  how  hard  it  is  for  me  not  to  get  letters 
from  you?  When  an  unusual  length  of  time  goes  by 
and  I  do  not  hear  from  you,  I  get  it  into  my  head  that 
you  are  forgetting  me,  and  that  I  am  losing  my  place 
among  you. 

"Tell  Hammie  and  Frank  that  I  have  one  of  the 
best  parrots  now  that  ever  was.  He  talks  better  this 


46        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

minute  than  our  little  three-year-old  niece  !  I  have 
sent  home  a  barrel  of  African  coffee.  Write  me  how 
you  like  it.  Our  officers  drink  it,  and  some  say  it  has 
a  flavor  like  Mocha,  and  like  it  very  much. 

4'  Tell  Frank  I  will  bring  him  all  the  coins  I  can  pick 
up.  The  negroes  use  shells,  called  cowries,  for  money, 
and  have  no  coinage  of  course." 

"  APRIL  15,  1860. 

"  The  clipper  ship  Nightingale  has  just  gone  ashore 
with  two  thousand  negroes  on  board.  If  she  gets  them 
to  Havana,  they  will  bring,  on  an  average,  six  hundred 
dollars  apiece  ;  so  you  can  calculate  how  much  money 
will  be  made  on  her.  This  Nightingale  is  a  powerful 
clipper  ship,  and  is  the  property  of  its  captain,  Bowen, 
who  is  called  the  Prince  of  Slavers.  The  first  time  I 
was  up  the  Congo  the  Sumtcr  went  up  fifteen  miles 
after  a  slaver  under  his  command,  called  the  Sultana. 
I  had  information  that  slaves  were  fitting  out  up  the 
river,  and  told  the  captain,  and  he  took  the  Sumter  up. 
We  found  the  barque  Sultana  and  the  brig  Kibby  with 
their  slave  decks  all  laid  and  everything  perfectly  ready 
for  that  cargo.  You  ought  to  get  some  of  the  books  on 
slavery  and  read  a  description  of  the  fitting  up  of  a  slave 
ship.  When  I  get  home  I  will  tell  you  all  about  it. 

4  k  We  took  both  the  ships  and  detained  one  of  them 
three  days,  and  then,  after  all,  our  captain  let  her  go, 
declaring,  against  every  proof,  that  there  was  nothing 
in  the  ships  but  what  was  in  her  manifest.  Of  course 
these  ships  at  once  filled  up  with  slaves  and  escaped, — 
calmly  sailed  off;  there  was  no  '  escape'  about  it — and 
with  the  money  Bowen  made  from  the  sale  of  those 
slaves  he  has  purchased  this  Nightingale,  one  of  the 
fastest  clipper  ships  known.  When  I  saw  Bowen  in 
command  of  the  Sultana  he  was  living  very  luxuri 
ously  ;  everything  in  his  cabin  in  the  finest  style,  and 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        47 

everything  about  his  career  as  nearly  as  possible  like 
those  romantic  pirates,  slave  captains,  etc.,  who  are 
introduced  into  novels." 

When  my  brother  was  in  New  Orleans  in  1864  he 
met  and  talked  with  the  former  captain  of  the  slave 
brig  Kibby,  which  the  Sumter  had  overhauled  at  the 
same  time  with  the  Sultana,  and  from  her  he  learned 
that  the  Nightingale  was  afterwards  captured  one  night 
off  the  coast  of  Africa,  but  that  Bowen  made  his  escape 
and  was  soon  the  captain  of  another  slaver  and  at  his 
old  trade  again.  He  was  afterwards  taken  by  the  Eng 
lish,  but  escaped  a  second  time,  and  there  being  no 
longer  any  profitable  market  for  slaves,  he  went  to 
keeping  a  hotel  in  Aspinwall,  and  was  living  and  flour 
ishing  at  the  time  of  this  conversation. 

"  Our  vessels  cruise  very  little  now  after  slavers. 
The  captains  think  it  useless  under  existing  laws.  A 
few  days  ago  we  overhauled  a  barque  all  ready  to  take 
her  negroes  on  board,  but  after  detaining  her  two  days 
our  captain  decided  there  was  nothing  on  board  that 
was  not  on  her  manifest,  and  so  let  her  go.  We  lost  a 
fine  prize  and  I  lost  a  chance  to  get  home,  and  I  have 
given  up  all  hopes  now  of  taking  any  prizes." 

''APRIL    iS,    i860. 

"  I  have  just  heard  that  the  barque  we  overhauled 
took  a  cargo  of  negroes  on  board  that  very  week  and 
escaped  !  Until  our  laws  are  different  at  home  we  shall 
not  dare  to  take  many  prizes  out  here. 

"  Lieutenant  Stewart  interrupts  my  writing  and  says, 
'  Come,  Perkins,  let 's  go  somewhere  ; '  and  I  think  I 
will  stop  writing  for  a  while  and  accept  his  invitation. 

"Well,  we  went  on  shore,  took  a  machala — a  sort 
of  hammock  in  which  the  negroes  carry  people  about — 
and  went  out  to  the  well.  It  would  seem  odd  to  a  New 


48        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

England  person  to  make  a  special  visit  to  a  well,  but 
they  are  rare  things  in  this  country,  and  it  is  the  only 
place  to  go  to  outside  of  St.  Paul  de  Loanda. 

"  One  other  variety  we  have  in  our  life  here,  which 
is  to  go  ashore  and  visit  some  negro  king,  who  will 
receive  us  under  a  palm-tree  with  his  wives  and  slaves 
about  him  ;  but  I  generally  find  them  all  too  disgusting 
to  be  very  amusing.  Since  McDonough  left  us  Captain 
Rooney  has  been  our  commander,  and,  like  so  many 
officers  on  this  coast,  he  begins  to  show  signs  of  break 
ing  down.  I  really  think  he  will  not  live  but  a  short 
time  longer." 

"APRIL    22,   i860. 

"The  last  accounts  from  home  of  the  progress  of  the 
rebellion  are  very  exciting.  A  good  many  Southern 
officers  on  this  station  have  resigned,  and  a  good  deal 
of  feeling  exists.  It  certainly  begins  to  look  as  though 
civil  war  was  a  sure  thing  for  us,  and  the  news  of  it 
has  already  affected  our  position  with  foreigners.  The 
English  officers  are  no  longer  polite  when  we  meet 
them,  and  do  not  show  a  friendly  feeling.  I  really 
think  they  are  highly  delighted  at  our  political  misfor 
tunes,  and,  indeed,  at  any  of  our  troubles.  It  pro 
vokes  me." 

"  OFF  MAJUMBA,  April  26,  1860. 

"It  is  Sunday  evening,  and  everything  is  very  quiet 
on  board  ship,  for  poor  Captain  Rooney  is  very  sick, 
and  there  is  but  little  hope  of  his  recovery.  We  all 
pity  him  very  much,  but  I  do  not  think  he  cares  to  live, 
for  he  has  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  The  other  day 
he  received  a  letter  from  the  woman  who  was  once  his 
wife,  but  who  has  deserted  him.  It  was  an  old  letter 
that  had  been  following  him  all  about  for  some  time, 
and  he  was  terribly  excited  at  receiving  it ;  since  then 
he  has  grown  rapidly  worse. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       49 

"  Even  little  Jack  Stewart  is  quiet  and  downhearted, 
not  only  on  account  of  poor  Rooney,  but  because  his 
sweetheart  has  stopped  writing  him.  He  says  this  is 
the  ninth  time  his  faithful  heart  has  been  shattered  by 
Cupid's  arrows  ! 

"We  cruise  in  sight  of  land  most  of  the  time  now, 
and  I  do  not  have  much  navigation  to  do,  for  I  am  very 
familiar  now  with  the  principal  headlands,  and  I  spend 
my  spare  time  reading  home  letters  over  and  over." 

"  APRIL    28,    i860. 

"I  cannot  write  but  little  or  do  much  of  anything 
to-day,  for  I  was  up  all  night  with  the  Captain,  and  I 
am  very  tired.  He  has  my  room,  as  it  is  the  coolest 
one  on  board  ship.  I  can  hear  him  talking  and  mutter 
ing  now  in  a  feverish  way,  and  every  now  and  then  he 
breaks  out  and  raves  in  a  wild  delirium.  It  is  dreadful  ! 
The  doctor  says  that  if  there  is  no  change  for  the  better 
very  soon,  he  cannot  possibly  live.  I  wish  he  could 
get  better,  for  sickness  and  death  on  board  ship  are 
very  sad." 

"  APRIL  29,  1860. 

44  It  is  all  over  now,  and  everything  is  very  hushed 
and  still.  The  officers  say  but  few  words,  in  a  low 
tone,  and  the  boys  speak  in  whispers,  but  they  need  not 
be  afraid,  they  cannot  wake  poor  Rooney  ;  his  sleep 
now  is  the  sleep  of  death.  He  died  a  few  hours  ago  in 
a  delirious  state,  not  becoming  conscious  even  at  the 
last,  and  unable  to  leave  one  parting  word. 

"  The  weather  adds  to  our  gloom  and  helps  to  remind 
us  that  we  are  in  the  presence  of  an  awful  power.  It 
is  a  fearfully  dark  night,  and  the  rain  comes  down  in 
torrents,  with  sharp  lightning,  and  heavy  thunder  in 
long,  rolling  peals." 
4 


50  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  KABENDA,  May  i,  1860. 

"We  brought  Captain  Rooney's  remains  here,  and 
buried  him  with  military  and  Masonic  honors.  We 
had  his  grave  dug  under  a  large  tree  on  shore,  and  the 
spot  is  pleasant,  but  all  about  is  very  wild  and  the 
inhabitants  on  this  part  of  the  coast  are  almost  in  a 
savage  state,  but  they  say,  '  We  like  the  Americans, 
and  we  will  not  touch  the  dead  man.'  Our  machinery 
is  out  of  order,  and  we  shall  have  to  remain  here  sev 
eral  days. 

4<  I  received  letters  from  you  all  by  the  last  mail,  and 
it  did  me  more  good  than  anything  else  in  the  world. 
I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  be  able  to  get  Hammie  a  bird- 
of-paradise,  or  a  mocking-bird  either,  for  I  cannot  find 
out  that  they  exist  on  this  coast,  and  I  have  made  a  good 
many  inquiries.  I  ought  to  find  out  if  any  one  can,  for 
I  trade  in  birds  a  good  deal  and  keep  a  collection  on 
board  ship  in  my  room  and  about  the  rigging.  I  have 
some  splendid  parrots,  and  I  think  they  are  very  bright 
birds, — some  of  them  know  so  much  it  almost  scares 
me.  It  seems  as  if  they  must  be  human.  There  is  one 
I  mean  to  keep  and  bring  home  if  I  can  ;  I  call  him 
*  Bosen,'  for  he  is  the  only  one  that  can  exactly  imitate  the 
boatswain's  whistle.*  I  find,  to  my  sorrow,  that  many 
of  the  beautiful  little  birds  I  get  here  will  not  live  long 
on  board  ship,  and  I  think  I  shall  have  to  give  up  birds 
and  take  to  monkeys.  I  have  a  beautiful  little  blue- 
nosed  monkey  who  is  very  intelligent,  but  is  always  in 
mischief.  He  has  a  special  spite  against  little  Jack 
Stewart,  and  takes  every  opportunity  to  plague  him. 
No  sooner  does  poor  Stewart  seat  himself  under  the 
skylight  for  a  good,  comfortable  read  than  this  little 
scamp  watches  his  chance,  and  then  with  one  spring 

*  He  did  bring  him  home,  and  he  lived  a  long  time  and  was  a  wonderful 
bird.     He  was  stuffed  after  his  death. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  51 

lights  exactly  on  the  bald  spot  in  the  middle  of  Stew 
art's  head  !  Poor  Stewart  jumps  up  in  an  awful  rage, 
swearing  he  will  '  kill  that  monkey,'  who,  by  this  time, 
is  sitting  in  the  rigging  out  of  his  reach  and  chattering 
and  laughing  at  him.  If  Stewart  were  not  so  kind- 
hearted  he  would  carry  out  his  threat,  but  he  cannot 
keep  mad  long  enough.  Sometimes  this  monkey  will 
deliberately  plan  some  bit  of  foolery  or  mischief  long 
beforehand,  and  then  wait  till  we  are  all  looking  at  him 
to  carry  it  out,  and  then,  quick  as  a  flash,  will  do  some 
ludicrous  thing  that  is  also  generally  destructive  ;  but 
it  will  make  us  burst  out  laughing,  and  then  he  clears 
up  the  rigging  like  a  streak  of  lightning." 

"MAY  8,    i860. 

* '  The  doctor  and  I  have  been  on  an  excursion  into  the 
interior  to  a  place  five  miles  from  Point  Pedras.  The 
natives  there  are  very  savage  and  treacherous,  so  that 
white  men  do  not  venture  among  them.  But  with  us 
ignorance  was  bliss  ;  we  did  not  know  this  about  them, 
and  we  started  on  our  trip  with  no  arms,  but  five  bottles 
of  gin  and  two  Kroomen  to  carry  them.  We  went 
to  a  large  village,  and  soon  after  our  arrival  saw 
how  matters  were,  and  we  really  feared  for  our  lives, 
for  the  inhabitants  were  not  at  all  civil.  We  succeeded 
at  last  in  persuading  the  old  king  to  take  enough  of  our 
gin  to  make  him  good-natured,  and  to  say  he  was  *  our 
friend.'  Then  his  subjects  did  not  dare  to  act  without 
his  orders,  and  we  finally  retired  in  safety.  But  we  felt 
safer  when  we  were  back  on  board  ship,  and  we  have 
decided  not  to  make  any  more  such  expeditions  at 
present." 

"  MAY  27,  1860. 

"  We  are  now  anchored  off  shore  between  Point 
Pedras  and  Majumba.  At  four  o'clock  to-morrow  morn- 


52  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

ing  we  shall  get  under  way,  and  some  time  to-morrow 
we  shall  arrive  at  Point  Pedras.  When  we  arrive  we 
shall  fire  a  gun,  which  is  the  prevailing  signal  on  this 
coast  for  notifying  the  natives  that  we  wish  to  trade. 
A  few  hours  after  this  signal  the  coast  will  be  lined  with 
negroes  loaded  with  all  their  produce,  which  consists  of 
goats,  chickens,  eggs,  pigs,  etc.,  with  a  few  mats  and 
baskets.  After  the  beach  is  well  covered  with  natives, 
we  have  our  boat  manned  by  the  Kroomen.  These  are 
huge  black  fellows  that  ship  on  this  station  for  boat  duty, 
and  the  going  ashore  work  that  our  men  cannot  perform 
in  this  climate.  They  come  from  the  Kroo  country  in 
Upper  Guinea,  just  south  of  Liberia.  When  they  ship, 
the  officers  usually  christen  them  by  some  queer 
name, — the  more  ridiculous  the  better, — and  the  Kroo- 
man  answers  to  this  all  through  the  service.  A  special 
favorite  of  mine  is  called  '  Upside  Down  ;  '  then  there 
is  another  named  '  Frying  Pan,'  and  a  particularly  black 
and  big  one  is  named  after  a  delicate  Annapolis  belle. 
They  seem  to  be  almost  amphibious,  and  it  is  astonish 
ing  to  see  them  in  the  water. 

"  At  this  season  of  the  year  the  surf  runs  very  high 
and  it  is  dangerous  to  land  ;  at  any  rate,  we  rarely 
escaped  a  ducking.  But  to  go  on  with  my  story  about 
going  ashore  to  trade. 

"When  the  boat  is  ready  and  manned  by  the  Kroo 
men,  all  the  old  bottles,  old  cans,  ship  knives,  cotton 
handkerchiefs,  old  clothes,  and  several  bottles  of  liquors 
are  passed  into  it,  and  then  such  of  the  officers  as  wish 
to  go  take  their  places.  After  their  first  few  trips  to  the 
shore,  though,  to  satisfy  their  curiosity  when  they  first 
come  out,  most  of  the  officers  give  up  going  as  they  do 
not  like  the  surf. 

<fcYour  affectionate  brother,  however,  always  goes; 
anything  for  variety,  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  excite- 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS  53 

ment  about  this.  The  Kroomen  begin  to  row  and  strike 
up  a  song  to  pull  by,  and  after  rowing  four  or  five  miles 
we  arrive  on  the  edge  of  the  surf.  Then  they  lie  on 
their  oars  and  all  eyes  are  turned  leeward,  looking  for 
a  big  roller  which  will  carry  us  on  shore.  These  mo 
ments  of  watching  are  very  exciting,  and  you  hold  your 
breath  in  spite  of  yourself.  The  roller  looks  like  a  great 
live  monster,  and  you  do  not  feel  at  all  sure  how  he  will 
treat  you.  At  length  when  the  looked-for  wave  comes, 
the  Kroomen  give  way  with  a  shout,  the  natives  on 
shore  yell  with  all  their  might,  the  boat  shoots  forward 
on  the  top  of  the  breaker  at  the  rate  of  twenty  knots  an 
hour,  the  surf  thunders  like  the  roar  of  a  battery,  and 
altogether  it  seems  as  if  the  world  had  come  to  an  end, 
and  all  those  fellows  in  the  infernal  regions  were  let 
loose. 

"  Now  we  must  trust  wholly  to  luck.  There  is  no 
retreat  and  no  help,  for  no  human  strength  or  power 
can  control  the  boat,  and  go  on  shore  you  must,  either 
in  the  boat  or  under  it.  After  the  few  wild  moments  of 
this  rapid  transi1",  the  boat  strikes  the  beach,  the  Kroo 
men  jump  overboard,  supposing  they  are  not  there 
already,  and  you  jump  on  the  back  of  one  of  them, 
who  runs  up  the  beach  with  you,  out  of  the  way  of  the 
next  roller,  which  immediately  follows  the  one  which 
brought  you  in,  and  which  breaks  over  the  boat,  often 
upsetting  it  if  it  is  still  upright,  and  always  wetting 
everything  inside.  When  the  Krooman  lands  you  from 
his  back  high  up  on  the  dry  beach,  if  you  have  escaped 
a  good  thorough  soaking,  and  are  not  half  drowned  in 
fact,  you  are  a  lucky  fellow." 

"JuNE  17,  1860. 

"  I  began  this  letter  three  weeks  ago,  and  w^hile  writ 
ing  the  above  description,  little  thought  how  soon  I 


54        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

should  be  able  to  give  you  from  actual  experience  a 
most  literal  account  of  all  and  every  danger  connected 
with  landing  through  the  surf  on  this  coast. 

"As  I  said  before,  at  this  season  of  the  year,  the 
rollers  are  very  heavy,  and  the  risk  is  really  very  great. 
But  a  short  time  ago,  the  ship  being  off  the  Settee  river, 
I  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  try  and  discover  the 
river's  mouth.  So  I  volunteered  to  take  a  boat's  crew 
and  attempt  it,  but  I  had  no  idea  of  trying  to  land,  for 
that  I  knew  would  be  foolhardy.  We  pulled  in,  till 
about  half  a  mile  from  shore,  and  then  rowed  along 
the  coast.  But  while  examining  the  shore  for  the  river's 
outlet,  a  roller  which  had  started  far  off  at  sea  caught 
our  boat  and  capsized  it.  Of  course  we  were  obliged 
to  swim  for  shore,  though,  in  truth,  we  had  little  to  do 
with  it,  for  the  moment  the  boat  was  upset  we  were 
driven  into  the  surf.  Not  one  of  us  thought  we  should 
ever  reach  the  shore  ;  for  if  we  were  not  drowned  the 
sharks  would  eat  us  up.  As  I  rose  on  the  top  of  a  wave, 
I  looked  ahead  and  saw  nothing  but  a  wild  stretch  of 
wild-tossing  surf,  it  seemed  perfectly  impossible  for  any 
one  to  live  in  it ;  but  when  I  looked  back  I  could  count 
all  my  men  striking  out  for  the  shore,  and  this  was  very 
encouraging,  for  I  was  afraid  one  or  two  might  be 
under  the  boat.  I  thought  for  a  moment  of  you  all  at 
home,  and  wondered  if  mother  would  not  feel  a  little 
frightened  if  she  knew  where  her  oldest  son  was  at  that 
moment,  and  it  occurred  to  me  how  small  the  chances 
were  that  I  should  ever  receive  my  next  letters  from  you, 
for  our  ship  was  then  on  its  way  for  the  mail.  At  that 
moment  a  roller  struck  me  and  carried  me  down  so  deep 
that  I  was  caught  by  the  undertow  and  kept  down  a 
long  time,  all  the  while  being  carried  towards  the  sea. 
When  I  came  up  again  I  tried  to  look  out  for  the  next 
roller,  but  it  was  no  use,  the  first  one  half  drowned  me. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        55 

and  the  next  kept  me  down  so  long  that  when  I  rose 
I  was  still  right  in  the  worst  of  the  surf,  which  was 
tumbling  and  tossing  me  about  in  a  manner  which  by  no 
means  met  my  highest  approbation.  My  eyes,  nose, 
and  mouth  were  full  of  sand,  and  I  certainly  thought 
my  time  had  come. 

"Just  then  I  looked  on  shore  and  saw  two  of  my  men 
dragging  another  one  from  the  water,  and  at  that  I 
struck  out  with  one  despairing  kick,  which  brought  me 
where  two  of  the  men  took  hold  of  me.  But  that  was 
all  I  knew  of  the  affair.  My  next  sensation  was  that  of 
a  person  being  well  shaken  about,  and  then  my  con 
sciousness  gradually  returned,  and  I  heard  one  of  the 
men  say,  '  Cheer  up,  Mr.  Perkins,  your  boat  and  all  the 
men  are  on  shore  ! '  This  was  such  good  news  that  I 
did  not  mind  much  the  uncomfortable  position  in  which 
I  found  myself.  I  was  covered  with  sand  and  stretched 
across  a  log  about  two  feet  high,  my  head  on  one  side 
and  my  feet  on  the  other,  and  the  men  were  doing  all 
they  could  to  bring  me  to.  It  was  now  a  little  after  sun 
set,  and  in  looking  about  we  found  we  were  wrecked  on 
a  sand-spit." 

"JUNE  24,  1860. 

"  While  writing  this  letter  a  week  ago,  I  was  taken 
sick  with  the  African  fever,  and  this  is  the  first  time  I 
have  attempted  to  sit  up.  But  everything  looks  so 
pleasant  this  morning  I  thought  I  would  try  to  write 
you  a  few  lines.  The  doctor  says  I  am  still  weak 
and  must  not  sit  up  long.  I  shall  be  well  though  pretty 
soon. 

"  I  want  to  finish  writing  you  about  our  shipwreck. 
After  getting  ashore  and  coming  to  my  senses,  I  found 
three  of  my  men  half  drowned,  and  another  one  in 
jured.  We  managed  to  get  the  boat  up  into  the  river, 
but  now  having  gone  a  whole  day  without  food,  we  began 


56        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

to  feel  very  weak  and  faint  and  to  suffer  awfully  from 
thirst.  The  next  morning  we  lost  our  way,  and  after 
pulling  round  till  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
we  stumbled  on  some  natives  fishing.  We  followed 
them  to  their  village,  but  they  were  such  a  miserable, 
bad-looking  set  of  negroes  that  we  were  afraid  of 
trouble.  Knowing  that  the  native  villages  were  left  in 
charge  of  the  old  men  in  the  daytime,  while  the  young 
and  strong  are  off  hunting  and  fishing,  we  did  not 
know  what  might  happen  to  us  when  these  came  back 
at  night.  So  after  killing  some  chickens  and  making 
a  very  good  meal  with  these  and  some  sweet  potatoes, 
the  strongest  of  us — which  were  myself  and  three 
others — made  ourselves  ready  for  a  fight;  the  rest 
manned  the  boat  for  our  retreat.  A  short  time  after 
this  the  chief  came  home  and  about,  a  hundred  men 
with  him. 

"  I  am  getting  tired,  and  you  will  be  tired  of  reading 
such  a  long  yarn,  so  I  will  cut  it  short.  I  told  the 
chief  that  I  had  come  to  pay  him  a  visit  and  we  had  a 
great  palaver  ;  but  he  would  not  give  us  anything  to 
eat,  and  we  made  up  our  minds  that  we  did  not  dare  to 
stay  long  in  his  neighborhood.  So  we  moved  down  on 
a  sand-spit  in  sight  of  our  ship,  and  there  we  stayed 
three  days  and  three  nights  waiting  for  the  surf  to  go 
down  so  that  we  could  return  to  her.  For  the  same 
reason  she  could  not  send  to  our  aid. 

"  We  made  a  sort  of  tent  and  built  a  fortification, 
traded  almost  all  our  clothes  off  for  something  to  eat, 
and  slept  unpleasantly  near  about  five  hundred  yelling 
and  howling  savages.  It  was  a  pretty  hard,  disagree 
able  time,  and  all  the  while  the  ship  was  in  sight,  but 
could  render  us  no  assistance.  We  learned  afterwards 
that  they  floated  off  casks  of  provisions  in  hopes  the  tide 
would  bring  them  in,  but  they  never  reached  us.  In 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  57 

time,  though,  some  Kroomen  got  on  shore  from  the  ship 
and  brought  us  some  oars,  and  after  trying  all  one  day, 
we  managed,  just  at  night,  to  get  off,  and  through  the 
surf,  and  back  to  the  ship. 

"•  It  was  a  happy  time  for  us,  and  it  seemed  so  for  all 
hands,  for  every  one  on  board  had  been  very  anxious 
about  us.  Not  far  north  of  this  place,  if  you  happen  to 
get  cast  ashore,  the  natives  kill  and  eat  you  at  once, 
for  cannibalism  is  by  no  means  extinct  among  many  of 
the  negro  tribes.  As  it  was  the  Kroomen  were  sure 
we  should  all  be  drowned.  The  men  that  were  with 
me  have  all  been  down  with  the  fever,  and  I  am  the 
last  case.  The  doctor  has  just  come  in  and  says  I  must 
go  to  bed,  so  good-night." 

"JuNE  27,  1860. 

"  Thank  you  all  for  the  letters  which  I  received  by 
the  last  mail.  I  see  that  Uncle  John  is  keeping  his 
promise — that  there  should  be  a  new  face  in  his  family 
for  me  to  see  every  time  I  came  back  from  a  cruise  ! 
Give  my  love  and  congratulations  to  him  and  to  Aunt 
Anne. 

"  Half  our  men  are  now  down  with  the  fever,  and 
we  need  to  go  somewhere  to  recruit.  I  hope  the  Com 
modore  will  order  us  to  St.  Helena.  I  have  sent  some 
mats  home  by  a  merchant  ship.  Write  me  if  you  like 
them  and  I  will  get  some  more." 

o 

Everything  that  it  was  possible  to  get  on  this  savage 
coast,  George  tried  to  send  home.  These  mats,  made 
of  long  grasses,  were  very  curious  and  pretty  and  rare, 
and  he  sent  many  things  that  were  interesting,  consid 
ering  the  savage  human  nature  they  represented. 

"JuNE  30,  1860. 

"By  the  last  mail  I  heard  from  a  young  lady  whom 
I  met  up  the  Mediterranean.  She  had  seen  Mr.  Sid- 


58  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

ney  Webster  and  had  talked  with  him  about  me  ;  and 
he  had  spoken  very  highly  of  me  to  her.  This  was 
very  kind  of  him,  and  he  has  always  been  kind  and 
polite  to  me.* 

"The  fever  left  me  at  last,  but  it  has  taken  away  all 
my  strength.  I  must  be  well,  though,  by  the  4th  of 
July,  for  the  Mystic  is  in  and  we  are  going  to  celebrate 
by  a  big  dinner. 

***** 

"Sometimes  it  seems  to  me  as  if  my  letters  home 
must  be  cold  and  could  not  half  express  my  feelings  for 
you — so  that  you  could  not  have  any  idea  how  I  do 
love  and  think  of  you  all  the  time.  Indeed,  I  do  not 
believe  any  words  I  might  use  could  tell  you  this,  but  I 
hope  you  know  and  feel  it  just  the  same." 

"JuNE  27,  1860. 
"  DEAR  SUE  : 

"I  have  sent  home  by  the  Marion  a  box  of  things 
that  I  ordered  from  Madeira  where  they  were  chosen 
for  you  by  a  young  lady  who  has  excellent  taste. f 

"  We  are  now  off  the  Bonney  River.  I  begin  to  feel 
pretty  well  tired  and  worn  out.  The  station  is  too- 
monotonous  and  unhealthy,  and  we  ought  to  be  sent  to 
some  place  to  recruit.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  sickness 
on  board,  and  our  old  sergeant  is  at  the  point  of  death. 

*  Sidney  Webster  had  been  law  partner  of  George's  uncle,  John  H. 
George  of  Concord,  and  had  often  been  at  our  house  when  George  was  a 
boy.  He  was  afterward  Private  Secretary  of  President  Pierce,  and  married 
a  daughter  of  Hamilton  Fish,  Secretary  of  State.  He  is  now  a  lawyer  in. 
New  York. 

t  This  consisted  of  lovely  specimens  of  the  delicate  and  beautiful  Madeira 
work  and  embroidery,  much  rarer  then  than  now.  Besides  boxes  of  fine 
mosaic,  chains  of  hair-work,  feather  flowers,  a  shawl,  knit  by  hand,  of  the 
finest  thread,  and  yards  of  beautiful  hand  made  trimming.  I  shall  never 
forget  how  delighted  I  was  to  receive  this  box,  nor  what  a  wonderful 
brother  George  seemed  to  me  ! 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        59 

I  am  feeling  very  badly  about  him,  for  he  is  a  gallant 
old  fellow  and  was  with  me  on  my  first  cruise ;  and 
you  never  forget  those  with  whom  you  make  your  first 

cruise." 

44  AUGUST  27,  1860. 

"Since  I  wrote  you  last  I  have  visited  two  of  the 
wildest  kind  of  places.  One  was  on  the  Bonney  River,, 
which  I  ascended  twenty-five  miles,  in  an  open  boat,, 
crossing  one  of  the  most  dangerous  bars  on  the  coast. 
I  went  to  carry  the  mails  to  the  English  mail  steamer, 
and  once  at  the  station  I  had  to  remain  three  days  on 
account  of  the  high  surf,  and  at  last  had  to  come  out  on 
the  English  steamer.  One  of  the  palm-oil  traders  gave 
a  big  supper  in  honor  of  my  arrival  up  the  river,  and 
said  I  was  the  '  first  American  naval  officer  that  had 
ever  been  in  Bonney.'  The  officers  of  the  mail  steamer 
told  me  that  they  never  heard  of  such  a  boat  as  mine 
crossing  the  bar,  and  that  it  was  a  great  wonder  that  I 
arrived  safely.  The  natives  on  the  Bonney  River  are 
cannibals,  and  if  I  had  been  upset  on  the  bar,  they 
would  have  killed  and  eaten  me. 

"  The  shark  is  a  fetich  among  the  negroes  on  this 
river,  who  feed  them  till  they  grow  very  large  and  be 
come  very  fierce.  Every  year  they  sacrifice  to  this  hor 
rible  fetich  an  innocent  child,  brought  up  expressly  to 
be  eaten  by  sharks.  This  child  is  generally  about  ten 
years  old,  and  must  be  sound  and  healthy  and  perfect 
in  every  respect.  The  slightest  scratch  will  make  her 
unfit  for  the  sacrifice.  On  the  appointed  day  this  child 
is  placed  on  some  planks  across  a  canoe,  and  taken  out 
on  the  river.  They  do  not  let  her  know  her  horrible 
fate,  but  all  at  once  they  tip  the  plank,  and  she  is  seized 
and  devoured  the  moment  she  touches  the  water  by  the 
monster  hovering  about  the  boat. 

"  As  I  was  gone  so  long  they  all  thought  on  board 


<)0        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

ship  that  I  was  lost,  and  I  got  a  warm  welcome  when  I 
came  back  safe  and  sound. 

44  We  started  South  directly  after  my  return  and  an 
chored  in  Camma  Bay,  up  the  Fernan  Vas  River. 
Captain  Laurens,  an  American  merchant  there,  sent 
for  some  of  our  officers  to  come  on  shore  and  have  a 
palaver  with  the  natives.  So  Stewart  and  myself,  and 
some  others  of  us,  accepted  the  invitation,  and  found 
when  we  went  ashore  that  a  large  number  of  natives 
with  their  chiefs  were  collected  together  to  receive  us. 
As  Captain  Laurens  was  anxious  to  impress  them  with 
the  dignity  of  the  officers  of  his  government,  I  per 
suaded  Stewart  to  go  in  full  uniform,  cocked  hat  and 
all.  The  rest  of  us  followed  and  attended  him  with  the 
utmost  ceremony,  and  gave  the  natives  to  understand 
that  his  person  was  sacred.  He  made  them  a  fine- 
sounding  address,  which  was  interpreted  to  them,  set 
ting  forth  the  power  and  glory  of  the  United  States, 
which,  however,  was  willing  and  even  desirous  to  be  on 
good  terms  with  such  famous  chiefs,  and  would  protect 
and  befriend  them  if  they  would  never  harm  the  Amer 
icans,  especially  Captain  Laurens. 

"They  made  a  suitable  reply,  and  the  palaver  being 
done,  they  set  themselves  to  preparing  a  feast.  They 
slaughtered  an  ox  in  the  first  place,  which  was  to  be 
cooked  and  eaten  whole,  and  began  to  prepare  other 
equally  delicate  dishes.  But  night  was  now  coming  on, 
and  in  this  climate  one  learns  the  truth  of  the  poet's 

line, — 

*  At  one  stride  comes  the  dark,' 

and  I  began  to  be  anxious.  Some  of  the  savages  had 
never  seen  a  white  man,  and  they  would  slink  up  to  us, 
touch  our  white  skins  slyly  and  quickly,  look  at  us  for 
a  moment,  with  their  fierce,  wild  eyes,  and  then  run 
away.  So  I  collected  my  party  and  hurried  them  off. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        6 1 

I  had  bought  some  wild  dogs  and  a  red-headed  monkey, 
which  I  tied  in  the  boat,  and  then  we  got  in  and  shoved 
off.  Bat  in  spite  of  everything,  the  boat  was  capsized 
just  as  it  rose  on  the  last  wave  of  the  surf,  and  we  had 
to  swim  for  it.  At  length,  though,  the  boat  was  righted 
and  we  were  all  picked  up  and  reached  the  ship  in 
safety.  But  after  all  was  over,  I  nearly  died  with  laugh 
ing  when  I  thought  of  it,  and  so  would  you  if  you  could 
have  seen  it  all.  Of  course  the  moment  the  boat  upset 
I  struck  out  for  the  shore,  which  is  all  one  can  do.  As 
soon  as  I  was  able  to  look  back  and  see  where  all  the 
rest  were,  there  was  poor  little  Stewart,  who  had  wholly 
abandoned  himself  to  the  rollers.  He  was  bobbing  up 
and  down  between  the  wild  dogs  and  the  monkey. 
First,  his  cocked  hat  would  rise  on  a  wave,  and  then 
his  little  boots  would  come  uppermost,  or  vice  versa, 
and  all  there  were  sputtering  and  howling  and  yelling 
and  unable  to  do  anything  else,  but  we  soon  rescued 
them,  and  now  we  are  all  safe  on  shipboard,  and  can 
afford  to  laugh  at  the  picture  they  made. 

"  The  ducking  did  not  seem  to  agree  with  the  ani 
mals  as  well  as  with  the  human  beings,  for  my  wild 
dogs  have  died,  and  as  my  monkey  seemed  to  droop 
and  grow  sickly  I  have  sent  him  ashore,  so  Hammie 
and  Frank  have  lost  their  present  this  time. 

"  I  keep  pretty  busy  every  day,  and  manage  to  fill  in 
almost  every  moment.  I  have  a  regular  watch,  four 
hours  in  the  day  and  four  hours  at  night,  and  besides 
my  duties  as  master  and  navigator,  I  am  caterer  of  the 
mess. 

"The  Captain  has  received  letters,  and  we  are  to  have 
five  weeks  to  recruit,  and  are  going  to  St.  Helena.  We 
shall  be  busy  now  getting  ready  for  it.  The  Relief  \\ws> 
come  in,  having  on  board  my  old  friend,  Dr.  Page,  who 
was  with  me  on  the  Release.  He  is  going  to  be  mar- 


62  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

ried  when  the   squadron  gets   home,  and  wants   me   to 
come  to  Virginia  and  be  his  groomsman." 

In  a  letter  of  this  date,  to  his  younger  brother,  he 
says  :  "  I  am  very  glad  you  had  such  a  pleasant  trip  to 
the  mountains,  and  came  home  in  such  good  health, 
and  that  you  are  such  good  boys  every  way.  I  think 
we  all  ought  to  do  well  after  the  good  teaching  and 
good  home  influences  we  have  always  had.  I  bought 
two  fine  parrots  at  Kabenda,  and  if  you  would  like  one, 
I  will  send  it  to  you.  I  keep  all  sorts  of  birds,  and  they 
are  beauties,  but  most  of  these  birds  would  not  live  in 
our  climate.  I  have  two  little  love-birds,  and  they  are 
the  most  cunning  little  birds  you  ever  saw.  I  have  a 
*  widow'  bird,  too,  and  I  wish  you  could  see  the  beau 
tiful  plumage  for  which  this  bird  is  noted  ;  but  it  would 
not  live  to  get  home." 

"  SHARK'S  POINT,  CONGO  RIVER,  March  27,  1861. 

"We  do  not  know  what  to  think  about  the  dreadful 
news  from  home.  We  take  the  New  York  Herald,  but 
it  reaches  us  very  irregularly  now,  and  we  do  not  know 
what  to  believe.  I  cannot  think  our  grand  republic  is 
going  to  pieces  !  Three  of  the  Southern  officers  in  our 
squadron  have  resigned,  and  those  others  who  are  from 
the  South  threaten  to  do  the  same." 

About  this  time  the  Sumter  went  to  St.  Helena,  but 
did  not  make  a  long  stay.  The  letters  George  wrote 
from  there  are  lost,  but  I  remember  he  enjoyed  hospi 
talities  from  the  English  residents  and  the  United  States 
•consul,  and  was  able  for  the  only  time  during  this  cruise 
to  indulge  in  his  favorite  amusement, — horseback  rid 
ing.  He  sent  home  a  book  of  views  of  the  interesting 
spots  on  the  island,  and  a  wreath  of  immortelles  from 
Napoleon's  tomb.  The  date  of  his  next  letter  is 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  63 

"  MAY  i,  1861. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  did  not  get  my  letters  from  St. 
Helena,  for  on  this  coast  we  hardly  can  get  a  subject 
like  that  to  write  about.  The  news  which  the  last  mail 
"brings  us  confirms,  without  any  hope  of  contradiction, 
the  fact  that  there  exists  a  dreadful  rebellion  in  our  be 
loved  country.  It  has  thrown  the  squadron  into  a  great 
state  of  excitement.  For  some  time  past  the  foreigners 
on  this  coast  have  treated  us  with  very  little  respect, 
and  it  has  been  plain  to  see  that  they  thought  us  a 
broken  power.  I  can  tell  you  this  has  been  a  very  pro 
voking  circumstance  to  loyal  officers.  I  certainly  can 
not  bring  myself  to  believe  but  that  it  will  be  a  longtime 
yet  before  any  government  will  have  a  right  to  despise 
the  United  States. 

"  Is  there  a  great  deal  of  financial  trouble  at  home? 
We  cannot  get  any  money  out  here,  and  we  suppose 
the  Department  at  Washington  must  be  in  great  confu 
sion.  This  news  about  our  country  is  so  absorbing  we 
cannot  think  or  talk  of  anything  else.  It  was  the  2Oth 
of  June  before  we  heard  that  Virginia  had  seceded.  No 
doubt  many  officers  of  our  squadron  will  resign  ;  but, 
as  a  Northern  man  I,  for  one,  hope  that  all  the  North 
will  pull  together  and  go  in  and  win.  One  of  the  offi 
cers  on  this  ship  is  from  a  Western  state,  received  his 
appointment  there,  and  draws  his  pay  from  our  govern 
ment ;  but  he  married  a  wife  from  Virginia,  and  for  that 
reason  is  going  to  join  the  Southern  navy. 

"  I  think  there  is  more  excuse  for  a  man  born  and 
brought  up  at  the  South  and  holding  property  there, 
and  it  needs  a  good  excuse  for  any  man  to  serve  against 
his  own  government,  when  it  has  fed  and  clothed  him 
and  he  has  sworn  to  defend  it,  and  when  he  has  no 
better  reason  for  disloyalty  than  his  desire  to  perpetu 
ate  slavery. 


64       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  I  do  not  say  much,  but  I  feel  and  know  that  if  I 
had  the  power  I  would  act,  and  I  think  the  North  has 
been  patient  long  enough.  I  am  thankful  to  see  by  the 
papers  that  at  last  it  is  becoming  pretty  much  of  one 
mind  throughout  the  North  as  to  the  course  to  be  pur 
sued  with  regard  to  the  rebellion, — that  it  must  be  put 
down,  and  the  Union  must  be  saved. 

"  We  did  not  get  our  orders,  as  we  expected,  by  the 
last  mail,  and  we  have  been  cruising  again  after  leav 
ing  St.  Paul  de  Loanda.  We  went  to  Gamma  Bay, 
which  is,  as  I  said  before,  about  twenty  miles  up  the 
Fernan  Vas  River.  Captain  Laurens's  factory  is  about 
three  miles  above  the  bay.  He  is  an  American  mer 
chant,  and  he  wanted  one  of  the  ships  of  the  squadron 
to  visit  him.  The  day  we  arrived  the  surf  was  so  high 
it  was  impossible  to  land,  but  the  next  day  it  looked  a 
little  smoother  and  the  captain,  doctor,  and  myself 
thought  we  would  try  it.  We  should  not  have  been 
able  to  make  a  landing  with  any  of  our  ship's  boats, 
but  we  went  in  a  large  canoe  rowed  by  twelve  negroes, 
which  took  us  over  the  rollers  very  well. 

"Captain  Laurens  is  from  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  He  is 
about  fifty  years  old  and  has  lived  thirty  years  on  this 
coast,  and  has  an  immense  number  of  negroes,  who 
take  care  of  the  island  and  factory.  He  got  up  a  great 
palaver  for  us,  inviting  a  large  number  of  negro  chiefs, 
with  their  trains  of  wives  and  slaves,  to  come  and  visit 
the  '  Great  men  from  America.'  These  chiefs  are 
dressed  in  all  sorts  of  costumes. 

"  The  surf  was  so  high  that  we  could  not  get  back  to 
the  ship  for  two  days,  and  I  amused  myself  by  taking 
a  lot  of  negroes  and  going  to  hunt  hippopotami.  We 
started  up  a  big  drove,  who  rushed  into  the  water, 
making  a  terrific  noise.  I  shot  and  killed  five,  and  I 
have  saved  their  tusks  to  bring  home.  I  was  afraid  of 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       65 

only  wounding  some,  as  that  enrages  them  and  makes 
them  dangerous,  and  they  will  rush  upon  a  boat  and 
attack  it  with  such  fury  that  it  is  hard  to  escape  ;  but  I 
killed  mine  at  the  first  fire,  as  we  got  pretty  near.  One 
did  make  for  the  boat,  but  by  good  rowing  the  negroes 
pulled  away  in  season. 

"  Tell  Uncle  John  there  is  a  young  rhinoceros  here 
which  I  can  easily  get  and  send  to  him  for  a  family 
pet,  if  he  would  like  me  to. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  our  first  commander,  Cap 
tain  Armstrong,  has  been  back  on  this  ship  for  some 
time,  and  will  remain  in  command  till  she  goes 
home.  He  takes  me  out  fishing  with  him  a  good  deal, 
but  fishing  here  is  not  much  like  the  hard,  exciting 
work  we  have  when  we  go  home.  We  take  some  of 
the  men  along  with  us  and  use  a  seine,  which  they  set 
and  then  haul  in  as  it  fills  with  fish,  so  you  see  it  is 
rather  lazy  work. 

"  I  get  a  great  deal  of  reading  matter  from  the  Cap 
tain.  His  wife  is  very  literary,  and  the  books  she  sends 
him  are  all  *  first  chop.''  There  are  some  novels  by  an 
author  named  Trollope  that  I  like  very  much."  * 

"JuNE  5,  1861. 

"We  are  now  in  the  Gaboon  River,  where  the  head 
of  our  missionary  settlement  is  established.  The  place 
belongs  to  the  French.  There  are  two  American  mis 
sionaries  here  with  their  families,  and  there  are  three 
or  four  English  factories.  Thirty  miles  farther  up  the 
river  the  natives  are  cannibals." 

Under  date  of  June  17,  1861,  George  writes  with 
great  satisfaction  that  the  Sumter  has  at  last  captured 

*In  the  twenty-six  years  that  have  passed  since  this  was  written  how 
well  known  has  become  the  "  author  named  Trollope  "  wherever  an  Eng 
lish  book  is  read  ! 

5 


66  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

a  slaver.  It  is  the  brig  Falmotith,  and  George  has  the 
promise  of  bringing  her  home.  But  Captain  Arm 
strong,  who  had  become  much  attached  to  him,  wished 
him  to  remain  and  act  as  first  lieutenant  until  the  end 
of  the  cruise,  which  must  now  be  near.  As  George 
was  only  twenty -four  years  old,  this  seems  a  high  posi 
tion  to  him,  and  he  writes  : 

"  Don't  you  think  I  have  a  right  to  feel  highly  flat 
tered  to  be  acting  first  lieutenant  at  my  age?  This 
offer,  and  the  persuasions  of  the  Captain,  have  induced 
me  to  give  up  my  right  to  come  home,  though  I  hate  to 
see  the  brig  sail  off  and  not  go  in  her.  It  is  some  con 
solation,  though,  to  have  taken  a  slaver  at  all,  for  we 
never  expected  to  get  such  a  chance  after  we  found 
how  the  laws  worked." 

"JuNE  15,  1861. 

"  My  old  captain  on  the  Release,  Captain  Parker, 
has  sent  me  a  file  of  papers  by  the  last  mail.  I  thought 
it  was  very  kind  of  him  to  remember  me.  The  mail 
brought  me  no  letters  from  you,  and  I  suppose  you  do 
not  write  because  you  think  I  am  on  my  way  home. 
But  there  is  some  unaccountable  delay  about  our  orders. 
It  is  high  time  they  came.  They  were  published  long 
ago,  and  we  saw  them  in  a  paper.* 

"As  I  have  been  both  navigator  and  caterer  of  the 
mess,  I  have  been  making  some  calculations,  and  find 
that  since  we  left  New  York  we  have  run  over  fifty 
thousand  miles,  and  that  five  of  us  have  eaten  three 
thousand  chickens  ! 

"I  do  not  expect  now  that  when  I  get  back  to  the 
United  States  I  can  stay  at  home  but  a  little  while,  and 
I  ought  not  to  care  for  rest  and  pleasure  when  such  a 

*  The  delay  in  recalling  foreign  squadrons  at  this  time  was  owing  to 
rebel  influence. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        67 

war  is   going   on,  even  if  the   government  gave  me  the 
time. 

"This  old  Sumter  is  pretty  well  used  up,  and  they 
have  not  thought  her  fast  enough  to  chase  slavers  ;  but 
now  I  am  first  lieutenant  of  her,  her  power  of  speed 
will  be  thoroughly  tested  on  her  journey  home  you  may 
be  sure." 

This  did  not  prove  an  idle  assertion,  and  the  news 
papers  of  the  day  spoke  of  the  return  voyage  of  the 
Sumter  as  the  quickest  ever  made  between  Africa  and 
the  United  States. 

George's  last  letters  from  Africa  were  full  of  sincere 
expressions  of  loyalty  to  his  country  and  ardor  in  her 
cause,  proving  that  his  oaths  to  his  government  had  a 
meaning  to  him,  which  his  heart,  brains,  and  high 
sense  of  honor  enabled  him  to  grasp  and  taught  him 
to  keep. 

After  returning  to  the  United  States  and  being  de 
tached  from  the  Sumter,  George  was  fortunately  left  at 
home  for  a  little  time  before  being  ordered  away.  His 
health  had  suffered  much  from  the  African  climate,  and 
he  greatly  needed  change  and  care,  but  still  he  was 
impatient  for  active  service.  His  natural  zeal  for  the 
performance  of  his  duty  was  not  lessened  by  his  bodily 
weakness,  and  all  his  thoughts  and  plans  now  turned 
upon  his  opportunities  to  serve  his  country. 

I  give  below  portions  of  one  of  the  letters  of  welcome 
he  received  at  this  time,  which  well  expresses  the  feel 
ings  so  many  were  called  upon  to  experience  in  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War  : 

"Thank  God,  dear  Perkins,  you  have  at  last  got 
back  to  this  unhappy  and  distracted  country  !  Tell  me 
if  you  are  to  be  in  New  York  at  any  time,  and  I  will 
come  on  and  shake  hands  with  you  and  spend  a  day 


68        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

there.     If  vou  are  to  be  in  Concord,  come  back   by  the 
way  of  Boston. 

"  Father  is  gone  to  St.  Louis  to  join  Fremont.  You 
know  father  was  born  and  appointed  in  Carolina,  and 
is  one  of  the  few  loyal  Southern  officers.  His  father 
and  all  his  relations  are  there,  and  we  have  not  heard 
from  them  since  Sumter  fell.  How  horrid  this  must  all 
seem  to  you  !  But  \ve  have  grown  almost  used  to  any 
thing.  I  have  not  written  to  you  for  a  long  time,  for 
all  your  squadron  have  been  supposed  to  be  coming 
home  for  the  last  four  months." 

December  n,  1861,  George  was  ordered  to  the 
United  States  steam  gunboat  Cayuga  as  first  lieutenant. 
It  was  a  new  gunboat  and  fitted  out  in  New  York. 
Needless  to  say  George  obeyed  his  orders  without  any 
delay,  and  after  going,  writes  home  with  his  old  fre 
quency,.  In  his  first  letter  he  says  : 

"  I  am  very  busy.  None  of  the  .officers,  except  the 
Captain,  have  ever  been  to  sea  before  in  a  man-of-war; 
and  besides  the  officers,  there  are  ninety-five  green 
hands  among  the  crew  to  be  broken  in  and  got  into  some 
kind  of  discipline.  So  my  berth  as  first  lieutenant  is  as 
onerous  as  honorary. 

"The  Cayuga  is  not  very  well  fitted  up  for  comfort, 
though  she  is  a  fine  gunboat.  We  are  ordered  to  join 
the  Western  Gulf  blockading  squadron,  stop  at  Key 
West  for  coal,  and  then  report  to  Commodore  Farragut 
at  Ship  Island.  It  is  evident  we  are  going  against  New 
Orleans  ;  and  when  we  sail  I  shall  say;  Good-by  to  the 
land  till  I  land  on  Southern  soil,  or  in  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean. 

"  I  send  you  home  some  photographs  which  I  have 
just  had  taken.  Every  one  here  thinks  they  are  very 
good,  and  they  will 'prove  to  you  that  I  always  look  very 
sober  and  solemn  when  I  am  not  with  you  all." 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        69 

It  was  the  wear  and  tear  of  more  than  two  years  in 
Africa  which  the  truthful  sun  revealed  in  these  pictures, 
and  which  caused  us  great  anxiety  for  his  health. 

"  KEY  WEST,  March  2,  1862. 

"  We  arrived  here  yesterday  after  a  very  hard  pas 
sage  from  New  York.  The  first  night  we  left  we  had  a 
gale  from  the  northwest,  and  it  was  very  cold.  The 
men  knew  very  little  abbut  a  man-of-war,  and  it  was 
hard  for  them  ;  there  was  really  great  suffering  among 
us  from  freezing.  Two  of  our  yards  were  carried  away. 
Another  gale  followed  this,  and  there  was  just  a  series 
of  them,  more  or  less  severe,  all  the  way  here.  The 
engines  and  all  were  so  strained  that  we  broke  down 
twice,  and  we  were  on  our  last  legs  when  we  got  in. 

"  If  I  do  my  very  best,  I  cannot  get  this  ship  in  order 
possibly  before  next  week,  though  the  Commodore  is  in 
a  great  hurry  to  get  us  off,  and  tlie__attack  on  New 
Orleans  will  be  made  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  SHIP  ISLAND,  March  31,  1862. 

"  General  Butler  is  embarking  his  troops,  and  we  all 
leaye  this  evening  for  New  Orleans.  Everything  is  all 
excitement.  •  The  attack  will  be  made  at  once,  and  they 
say  if  we  succeed  it  will  end  the  war. 

"I  always  told  you  everything  would  be  settled  as 
soon  as  I  went  into  action,  and  now  I  expect  it  will  ! 
It  seems  very  strange,  to  be  down  here  surrounded  by 
rebels.  This  morning  one  of  our  gunboats  had  a 
skirmish  with  one  of  theirs.  It  was  in  plain  sight  of 
our  fleet. 

"The  Cayuga  took  a  prize  coming  here  from  Key 
West,  which  we  have  sent  back  to  New  York. 

"  Every  one  is  writing  home.  I  expect  my  next  letter, 
if  I  write  at  all,  will  be  dated  from  New  Orleans." 


70  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"U.  S.  S.  CAYUGA, 
"  OFF  ATCHAFALAYA,  LOUISIANA, 

"  April  4,  1862. 

"  Since  I  wrote  you  last  we  have  had  quite  an  excit 
ing  time.  The  next  day  after  leaving  Ship  Island  we 
arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  There  we  met 
the  Commodore  and  the  rest  of  the  fleet.  A  number  of 
his  vessels  had  bad  luck  and  got  ashore.  The  Commo 
dore  felt  sure  of  being  able  to  take  New  Orleans,  and 
was  getting  ready  for  the  attack  ;  but  a  good  many  of 
the  longest-headed  officers  thought  it  would  be  doubtful 
about  his  success.  The  ports  are  well  garrisoned,  and 
they  have  a  fleet  of  gunboats  and  some  iron-clads. 
Beauregard  is  there  and  the  city  is  under  martial  law. 
Owing  to  the  damage  done  our  fleet  by  so  many  vessels 
being  on  shore,  the  Commodore  has  been  obliged  to 
delay  the  attack,  and  the  Cayuga  has  been  ordered  off 
this  place  to  blockade. 

"We  spoke  the  Connecticut  just  outside,  and  I.  re 
ceived  letters  from  you  all, — letters  which  I  have  read 
over  many  times. 

"This  morning  a  gunboat,  two  steamers  loaded  with 
troops  and  guns,  and  a  schooner  with  one  gun  sailed  over 
the  reef  and  came  towards  us.  We  cleared  ship  for 
action,  and,  when  they  arrived  in  full  sight,  hoisted  our 
colors.  They  hoisted  theirs  and  stood  for  us,  and  we 
expected  a  hard  fight,  but  before  they  arrived  within 
reach  of  our  guns,  we  thought  we  would  fire  them  off, 
as  they  had  been  loaded  several  days,  and  then  load 
them  fresh  for  the  expected  fight.  So  we  took  aim, 
blazed  away,  and  started  for  them.  But  as  soon  as  we 
did  this,  they  just  fired  a  couple  of  shot  at  us,  and 
turned  tail  and  ran  !  We  chased  them  into  shallow 
water,  but  we  had  to  give  it  up,  as  the  Cayuga  draws 
ten  feet,  and  we  nearly  grounded. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        J  1 

"We  are  anchored  off  the  channel,  because  we  draw 
too  much  to  cross  the  bar  and  get  into  the  harbor, 
and  we  keep  all  ready  for  a  fight  at  any  time.  We  ex 
pect  the  rebels  will  be  out  again  to-morrow,  perhaps 
to-night,  and  we  shall  sleep  with  our  boots  on  and  all 
our  arms  ready.  I  think  Captain  Harrison  has  the  right 
kind  of  pluck,  and  I  get  on  with  him  very  well,  which, 
they  say,  is  an  uncommon  thing  for  a  captain  and  first 
lieutenant. 

"  Any  way  I  hope  the  Cayuga  will  go  down  before 
she  ever  gives  up,  and  I  guess  she  will. 

"  We  return  to-morrow  afternoon  to  the  Mississippi  to 
get  ready  for  the  fight  at  New  Orleans.  It  must  cer 
tainly  come  off  next  week.  If  the  Commodore  had  not 
been  unlucky  about  the  ships — several  getting  aground — 
it  would  all  have  been  over  by  this  time. 

"  In  spite  of  there  being  so  much  going  on  as  to  keep 
up  a  constant  excitement,  and  my  being  so  busy,  I  am 
always  thinking  of  you  all  at  home.  Give  my  love  to 
Aunt  Anne  and  tell  her  I  opened  her  pickles  to-day,  and 
they  were  a  great  treat. 

"The  weather  is  very  warm  here,  but  we  are  all  in 
good  health,  and  ready  for  anything  that  turns  up.  If 
those  vessels  had  not  come  out,  I  was  going  in  with  a 
boat  to  take  a  look  around,  but  I  had  to  give  it  up,  and 
probably  it  is  lucky  I  did.  I  have  not  the  least  idea 
when  I  shall  be  able  to  send  this  letter ;  but  while  I  feel 
well  and  hopeful  about  the  future,  I  will  make  a  request, 
which  I  might  as  well  make  now,  as  at  any  time,  and 
then  the  subject  need  not  be  brought  up  again. 

"  If  anything  should  happen  to  me,  so  that  I  should 
not  get  home  alive,  I  should  like  my  remains,  if 
they  can  be  found,  to  be  taken  home  and  buried  with 
the  rest  of  the  family  ;  but  if  they  cannot  be  found,  I 
should  like  my  place  in  our  burial  lot  left  vacant,  and  a 


72        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

small  monument  erected  on  that  spot  for  me.  I  am  not 
going  to  think  or  speak  of  this  subject  again,  but  the 
happiest  of  men  must  do  so  some  time." 

"U.  S.  S.  CAYUGA, 

"  STORMING  THE  FORTS  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER, 

"  April  20,  1862. 

"The  bombardment  of  the  forts  commenced  three 
days  ago,  and  the  first  day  we  were  in  close  action  ;  but  we 
all  came  out  safe.  The  enemy's  cannon-balls  drop  about 
us  constantly.  Several  of  the  vessels  in  the  fleet  have 
been  struck  and  a  few  men  killed  and  wounded.  To 
day  or  to-morrow  we  start  up  the  river.  The  chain 
across  it  was  cut  last  night,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that 
the  forts  will  be  ours  before  to-morrow  evening. 

"  I  have  but  a  moment  to  write.  The  rebels  are 
continually  sending  down  firerafts,  and  the  bombard 
ment  from  the  mortars  goes  on  night  and  day,  so  that 
we  have  hardly  any  sleep.  I  will  write  as  soon  as  we 
reach  New  Orleans,  and  I  hope  you  are  not  worrying, 
for  by  the  time  you  get  this  everything  will  be  over. 

"Unless  we  meet  some  unforeseen  obstacle,  New 
Orleans  must  fall,  though  perhaps  it  will  take  a  week's 
hard  fighting.  We  have  just  heard  that  Captain  Bailey 
has  taken  the  Cayuga  for  his  flagship,  so  we  shall  lead 
the  gunboats." 

"  NEW  ORLEANS,  April  27,  1862. 

"  We  arrived  here  two  days  ago,  after  what  was  '  the 
most  desperate  fight  and  greatest  naval  achievement  on 
record,'  so  every  one  says.  Wednesday-  night,  April 
23,  we  were  ordered  to  lead  the  way,  and  be  ready  to 
run  by  the  forts  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  ;  and  at 
two  o'clock  precisely  the  signal  was  made  from  the 
Hartford  to  '  get  under  way.' 

"  Captain  Harrison  paid  me  the  compliment  of  letting 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  73 

me_p.ilot  the  vessel,  and  though  it  was  a  starlight  night 
we  were  not  discovered  until  we  were  well  under  the 
forts  ;  then  the)7  opened  a  tremendous  fire  on  us.  I  was 
very  anxious,  for  the  steering  of  the  vessel  being  under 
my  charge  gave  me  really  the  whole  management  of 
her.  The  Cayuga  received  the  first  fire,  and  the  air 
was  filled  with  shells  and  explosions  which  almost 
blinded  me  as  I  stood  on  the  forecastle  trying  to  see  my 
way,  for  I  had  never  been  up  the  river  before.  I  soon 
saw  that  the  guns  of  the  forts  were  all  aimed  for  the 
mid-stream,  so  I  steered  close  under  the  walls  of  Fort 
St.  Philip,  and  although  our  masts  and  rigging  got 
badly  shot  through,  our  hull  was  but  little  damaged. 

"  After  passing  the  last  battery  and  thinking  wre  were 
clear,  I  looked  back  for  some  of  our  vessels,  and  my 
heart  jumped  up  into  my  mouth,  when  I  found  I  could 
not  see  a  single  one.  I  thought  they  all  must  have  been 
sunk  by  the  forts.  Then  looking  ahead  I  saw  eleven 
of  the  enemy's  gunboats  coming  down  upon  us,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  we  were  '  gone '  sure.  Three  of  these 
made  a  dash  to  board  us,  but  a  heavy  charge  from  our 
eleven-inch  gun  settled  the  Gov.  Moore,  which  was  one 
of  them.  A  ram,  the  Mantissas,  in  attempting  to  butt 
us,  just  missed  our  stern,  and  we  soon  settled  the  third 
fellow's  *  hash.'  Just  then  some  of  our  gunboats,  which 
had  passed  the  forts,  came  up,  and  then  all  sorts  of 
things  happened.  There  was  the  wildest  excitement  all 
round.  The  Varuna  fired  a  broadside  into  us,  instead 
of  the  enemy.  Another  of  our  gunboats  attacked  one 
of  the  Cayugas  prizes, — I  shouted  out,  '  Don't  fire  into 
that  ship,  she  has  surrendered  !  '  Three  of  the  enemy's 
ships  had  surrendered  to  us  before  any  of  our  vessels 
appeared,  but  when  they  did  come  up  we  all  pitched  in, 
and  settled  the  eleven  rebel  vessels,  in  about  twenty 
minutes.^  Our  short  fight  with  the  Gov.  Moore — it  used 


74  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

to  be  the  Morgan — was  very  exciting.  We  were  along 
side  of  each  other,  and  had  both  fired  our  guns,  and  it 
all  depended  on  which  should  get  reloaded  first.  The 
large  forward  gun  on  the  Gov.  Moore  was  a  ten-inch 
shell,  ours  an  eleven-inch,  and  we  were  so  near  they 
were  almost  muzzle  to  muzzle. 

"Ours  was  fired  first,  and  Beverly  Kennon,  the  cap 
tain  of  the  Gov.  Moore,  is  now  a  prisoner  on  board  the 
Cayuga.  He  tells  me  our  shot  was  the  one  that  ruined 
him, — disabled  his  vessel,  capsized  his  gun,  and  killed 
thirteen  of  the  gun's  crew.  Beverly  Kennon  used  to  be 
an  officer  in  our  navy. 

"  The  Cayuga.  still  led  the  way  up  the  river,  and  at 
daylight  we  discovered  a  regiment  of  infantry  encamped 
on  shore.  As  we  were  very  close  in,  I  shouted  to  them 
to  come  on  board  and  deliver  up  their  arms,  or  we 
would  blow  them  all  to  pieces.  It  seemed  rather  odd 
for  a  regiment  on  shore  to  be  surrendering  to  a  ship  ! 
Th_ey_ hauled  down  their  colors,  and  the  colonel  and 
command  came  on  board  and  gave  themselves  up  as 
prisoners  of  war.  The  regiment  was  called  the  Chal- 
mette  regiment,  and  has  been  quite  a  famous  one.  The 
officers  we  released  on  parole  and  allowed  them  to 
retain  their  side-arms,  all  except  one  captain,  who  I 
discovered  was  from  New  Hampshire.  His  name  is 
Hickery,  and  he  came  from  Portsmouth.  I  took  his 
sword  away  from  him  and  have  kept  it. 

'"The  next  thing  that  happened  was  the  sinking  of 
the  Varuna,  which  had  been  disabled  by  one  of  the 
enemy's  vessels  running  into  her.  Soon  after  this  the 
Commodore  came  up  in  the  Hartford  and  ordered  us 
all  to  anchor  and  take  a  little  rest  before  attacking  New 
Orleans,  which  was  now  within  twenty  miles. 

4i  By  this  time  our  ship  had  received  forty-two  shots 
in  masts  and  hull,  and  six  of  our  men  had  been 


MAP  OF   THE 

MISSISSIPPI  RIVER 

SHOWING 

FORTS  JACKSON  ANnSTPHHJP 


From  the  U.  S.  Coats t    S\irvey 

Surveyed  in  1810 
Bv  John  N.  Me  Clintock.     -^i??' 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        75 

wounded  ;  one  of  the  boys  had  to  have  one  of  his  legs 
cut  off.  All  this  time,  night  and  day,  firerafts  and  ships 
loaded  with  burning  cotton  had  been  coming  down  the 
river  and  surrounding  us  everywhere.  Besides  these, 
the  bombardment  was  continuous  and  perfectly  awful. 
I  do  not  believe  there  ever  was  anything  like  it  before, 
and  I  never  expect  to  see  such  a  sight  again.  The  river 
and  shore  were  one  blaze,  and  the  sounds  and  explo 
sions  were  terrific.  Nothing  I  could  say  would  give 
you  any  idea  of  these  last  twenty-four  hours  ! 

"  The  next  morning,  April  25,  we  all  got  under  wav 
again,  the  Cayuga  still  leading,  and  at  about  nine 
o'clock  New  Orleans  hove  in  sight.  We  called  all 
hands  and  gave  three  cheers  and  a  tiger  ! 

"There  were  two  more  fortifications  still  between  us 
and  New  Orleans,  called  the  Chalmette  batteries,  but 
Captain  Bailey  thought  they  could  not  be  of  much 
account,  and  that  we  had  best  push  on.  When  we  ar 
rived  in  sight  of  these  batteries,  no  flag  floated  over 
them,  and  there  was  not  a  man  to  be  seen — nothing  but 
the  guns,  which  seemed  abandoned.  In  fact,  though, 
there  were  a  lot  of  treacherous  rascals  concealed  in 
these  batteries,  and  when  we  had  come  close  enough  to 
make  them  feel  sure  they  could  sink  us,  they  opened  a 
heavy  fire.  We  gave  them  back  as  well  as  we  could, 
but  they  were  too  much  for  one  gunboat;  so,  after  get 
ting  hit  fourteen  times,  and  the  shot  and  shell  striking 
all  about  us,  we  decided  not  to  advance  any  further  until 
some  of  the  ships  came  up.  Soon  we  had  the  Hartford 
on  one  side  and  the  Pensacola  on  the  other,  and  then 
the  rebel  battery  was  silenced  very  quick. 

"  After  this,  there  were  no  further  obstacles  between 
us  and  the  city,  and  the  fleet  were  soon  anchored  before 
it.  The  Commodore  ordered  Captain  Bailey  to  go  on 
shore,  and  demand  its  surrender,  and  he  asked  me  to 


76        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

go  with  him.  We  took  just  a  boat  and  a  boat's  crew, 
with  a  flag  of  truce,  and  started  off.  When  we  reached 
the  wharf  there  were  no  officials  to  be  seen  ;  no  one  re 
ceived  us,  although  the  whole  city  was  watching  our 
movements,  and  the  levee  \vas  crowded  in  spite  of  a 
heavy  rain-storm.  Among  the  crowd  were  many 
women  and  children,  and  the  women  were  shaking 
rebel  flags,  and  being  rude  and  noisy. 

"They  were  all  shouting  and  hooting  as  we  stepped 
on  shore,  but  at  last  a  man,  who,  I  think,  was  a  Ger 
man,  offered  to  show  us  the  way  to  the  council-room, 
where  we  should  find  the  mayor  of  the  citv. 

"  As  we  advanced,  the  mob  followed  us  in  a  very  ex 
cited  state.  They  gave  three  cheers  for  JefF  Davis  and 
Beauregard,  and  three  groans  for  Lincoln.  Then  they 
began  to  throw  things  at  us,  and  shout,  '  Hang  them  ! ' 
*  Hang  them  !  '  We  both  thought  we  were  in  a  badjix, 
but  there  was  nothing  for  us  to  do,  but  just  go  on. 

"We  reached  the  city  hall,  though,  in  safety,  and 
there  we  found  the  mayor  and  council.  They  seemed 
in  a  very  solemn  state  of  mind,  though  I  must  say,  from 
what  they  said,  they  did  not  impress  me  as  having 
much  mind  about  anything,  and  certainly  not  much 
sense.  The  mayor  said  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
city,  as  it  was  under  martial  law,  and  we  were  obliged 
to  wait  till  General  Lovell  could  arrive. 

"  In  about  half  an  hour  this  gentleman  appeared.  He 
was  very  pompous  in  his  manner  and  silly  and  airy  in 
his  remarks.  He  had  about  fifteen  thousand  troops 
under  his  command,  and  said  he  would  'never  surren 
der,'  but  would  withdraw  his  troops  from  the  city  as 
soon  as  possible,  when  the  city  would  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  mayor  and  he  could  do  as  he  pleased 
with  it. 

"  The  mob  outside  had  by  this  time  become  perfectly 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        77 

infuriated.  They  kicked  at  the  doors  and  swore  they 
would  have  us  out  and  hang  us  !  Of  course  Captain 
Bailey  and  I  felt  -perfectly  at  our  ease  all  this  while! 
Indeed,  every  person  about  us,  who  had  any  sense  of 
responsibility,  was  frightened  for  our  safety.  As  soon 
as  the  mob  found  out  that  General  Lovell  was  not 
going  to  surrender,  they  swore  they  would  have  us  out 
anyway  ;  but  Pierre  Soule  and  some  others  went  out 
and  made  speeches  to  them,  and  kept  them  on  one  side 
of  the  building  while  we  went  out  the  other,  and  were 
driven  to  the  wharf  in  a  close  carriage.  Finally  we 
got  on  board  ship  all  right ;  but  of  all  the"  blackguard 
ing  I  ever  heard  in  my  life  that  mob  gave  us  the  worst. 

"The  mayor  told  the  flag-officer  this  morning  that 
the  city  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mob,  and  was  at  our 
mercy,  and  that  he  might  blow  it  up  or  do  with  it  as  he 
chose.  They  still  fly  the  state  flag  on  the  custom 
house,  and  as  we  have  not  yet  any  forces  with  which  to 
land  and  make  an  attack,  we  can  do  nothing  at  present, 
unless  we  blow  up  the  city. 

"  I  do  not  know  where  General  Butler  is.  So  far, 
only  fourteen  of  our  fleet  have  passed  the  forts  out  of 
all  the  ships  that  started.  None  of  us  know  what  has 
become  of  them,  and  the  forts  have  not  yet  surrendered. 
Until  then,  there  can  be  no  going  up  and  down  the 
river. 

"This  morning  we  have  been  ordered  to  take  Cap 
tain  Bailey  down  to  a  bayou,  where  he  will  pass  out  in 
a  boat,  and  taking  a  ship  below  will  proceed  home,  as 
bearer  of  despatches. 

"  We  expect  to  make  another  attack  on  the  forts 
to-morrow  or  next  day,  if  General  Butler  arrives  with 
the  troops.  The  Southerners  say  our  victory  was  one 
of  the  greatest  ever  known.  They  never  dreamed  of 
our  being  able  to  pass  the  forts  ;  and  if  the  attempt  had 


78        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

been  made  in  the  daytime,  our  fleet  must  surely  all  have 
been  sunk.  We  may  be  in  a  bad  fix  now,  if  the  forts 
do  not  fall,  and  it  is  not  safe  for  any  one  to  leave  our 
ships  and  go  anywhere  in  a  boat.  The  mob  rule  in 
the  city,  and  they  are  perfectly  reckless.  We  are  still 
feeling  the  effects  of  the  excitement  which  the  attack 
caused.  Nothing  is  settled,  arid  there  is  danger  and 
risk  about  every  movement. 

"  I  have  written  this  letter  at  railroad  speed.  I  am 
all  right  so  far,  as  regards  my  health.  We  expect 
another  good  fight  to-morrow  or  next  day,  when  we  go 
back  to  take  the  forts. 

"I  hope  you  are  all  well  at  home,  and  you  must 
excuse  this  letter,  for  it  seems  as  though  I  could  not 
stop  to  form  words.  Should  I  ever  see  you  again  I 
can  tell  it  all  so  much  better.  I  cannot  say  yet  how 
many  men  have  been  lost  on  our  side,  but  I  think  the 
number  is  quite  small." 

As  is  now  well  known,  the  forts  surrendered  soon 
after  the  city,  and  it  was  not  necessary  to  make  any 
further  attack  upon  them.  The  passage  of  the  river 
thus  becoming  safe  and  free,  Captain  Bailey  was  able 
to  proceed  home  directly  ;  and  as  the  Cayuga  was 
badly  cut  up  by  shot  and  shell,  and  needed  to  return 
for  repairs,  she  was  ordered  to  bring  him  as  far  as 
Hampton  Roads  on  his  journey.  From  there  he  went 
to  Washington  by  land,  while  the  Cayuga  kept  on  to 
the  Brooklyn  navy  yard. 

The  first  intelligence  received  at  the  North  of  the 
passage  of  the  forts  was  a  report  from  the  rebels.  It 
appeared  in  the  New  York  Times  of  Sunday,  April' 
27th,  1862,  and  was  headed,  "An  Important  Report 
from  the  Rebels  !  One  of  our  gunboats  above  Forts 
Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  sixty  miles  below  New  Orleans  !" 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 


79 


"WASHINGTON,  Saturday,  April  26th.  The  Rich 
mond  Examiner  of  the  25th  announces  that  one  of  our 
gunboats  passed  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  sixty 
miles  below  New  Orleans,  on  the  24th.  The  report 
was  telegraphed  to  Norfolk  and  brought  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  received  from  there 

c5 

to-day  by  the  Navy  Department." 


THE    CAYUGA. 

In  the  demand  which  Admiral  Bailey  made  upon 
Admiral  Farragut  that  a  correct  diagram  of  the  order  in 
which  the  ships  passed  the  forts  should  be  filed  at  the 
Navy  Department,  and  that  in  this  the  Cayuga  should 
be  placed  as  leading,  which  she  did, — and,  eventually, 
far,  far  in  advance, — all  the  other  vessels  to  the  attack, 
he  quotes  the  above  from  the  newspapers  of  the  day  to 
prove  how  far  ahead  she  was,  and  adds  : 


8o        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  After  passing  the  forts  and  capturing  the  Chal- 
mette  regiment,  the  Cayuga  cut  the  telegraph  between 
the  forts  and  New  Orleans,  and  there  could  be  no  fur 
ther  telegrams  sent  about  the  progress  of  our  ships 
until  the  fleet  arrived  at  New  Orleans,  that  is,  before 
the  city  itself." 

I  insert  here  such  extracts  from  Admiral  Bailey's 
pamphlet,  entitled  "  History  Set  Right,"  as  give  an 
account  of  the  movements  and  the  part  taken  by  the 
Cayuga  in  this  famous  naval  battle.  The  Army  and 
Navy  Journal  copied  this  pamphlet  into  its  columns 
with  this  editorial  heading  : 

"  The  following  correspondence  is  reproduced  from 
the  files  of  the  Navy  Department.  We  publish  it,  in 
justice  both  to  the  truth  of  history  and  to  the  reputation 
of  those  gallant  officers  whom  it  most  concerns  :  " 

REAR    ADMIRAL    BAILEY    TO    ADMIRAL    FARRAGUT. 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  i,  1869. 
<4Mv  DEAR  ADMIRAL: 

"  I  feel  compelled  to  call  your  attention  to  an  over 
sight  of  which  I  spoke  to  you  some  time  since,  and 
which  has  afforded  me,  and  other  officers,  the  keenest 
annoyance,  by  historical  statements  growing  out  of  the 
omission  to  make  the  desired  correction." 

Admiral  Bailey  then  proceeds  to  remind  Admiral 
Farragut,  at  greater  length  than  I  will  here  quote,  of 
the  verbal  arrangement  by  which  the  Cayuga  was 
assigned  as  his  (Captain  Bailey's)  flag-ship,  Captain 
Bailey  being  second  in  command  to  Admiral  Farragut. 
On  the  2Oth  of  April,  1862,  Admiral  Farragut  issued  a 
written  order  and  programme  that  the  fleet  should  pass 
the  forts  two  columns  abreast,  but  after  the  chains  and 
booms  were  cut,  fearing  that  there  would  still  be  some 
obstructions  in  the  channel  which  would  endanger  the 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  8 1 

vessels,  he  issued  a  verbal  order,  that  they  should 
advance  single  file,  line  ahead,  the  Cayuga  leading. 
Or,  as  Admiral  Bailey  says  : 

"After  the  chain  and  booms,  constituting  the 
enemy's  obstructions,  were  cut,  it  became  apparent 
that  if  the  fleet  went  up,  in  two  columns  abreast,  accord 
ing  to  your  written  order  and  programme,  of  the  2oth 
of  April,  the  parallel  columns  of  vessels  would  proba 
bly  get  foul  of  the  obstruction  on  either  side,  and  the 
whole  fleet  hove  into  confusion  under  the  fire  of  the 
enemy's  forts,  especially  as  you  had  determined  to 
make  a  night  attack.'  Therefore  with  your  proverbial 
foresight  and  sagacity,  you  ordered  me  to  get  my  divi 
sion  of  eight  vessels  under  way  as  soon  as  the  dusk  of 
the  evening  should  obscure  the  movement  from  the  ene 
my,  and  anchor  them  line  ahead  near  the  east  bank." 

Admiral  Bailey  proceeds  to  describe  the  action  of  the 
Cayuga,  which,  starting  at  the  signal  from  the  Hart 
ford,  passed  up  the  river  and  ran  by  the  forts  success 
fully.  An  accident  to  the  Pensacola's  machinery  hav 
ing  caused  a  detention  of  those  ships  of  Captain  Bail 
ey's  division  astern  of  her,  he  says  : 

"  Losing  sight  of  them,  we,  in  the  Cayuga  alone, 
encountered  the  rebel  iron-clads,  and  their  flotilla  of 
gunboats,  and  maintained  the  conflict  unaided,  until 
Boggs  in  the  Varuna  came  up,  who,  after  delivering  a 
broadside  which  came  into  the  Cayuga  instead  of  the 
enemy,  passed  up  the  river.  The  Oncida  came  up 
soon  after  and  fired  into  a  steamer  that  had  already 
surrendered  to  us,  being  the  Cayuga's  third  prize.  We 
then  steamed  up  the  river  and  captured  the  Chalmette 
regiment  encamped  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river. 
***** 

"  To   give  a  history   of  all  the  incidents  of  the  battle 
within  my  observation,  or  the  part  which  each  vessel  of 
6 


82        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

my  division  took,  would  make  this  communication  too 
long.  The  great  object  of  this  letter  is  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  hurry  of  making  up 
your  despatches  after  the  battle,  you  sent  home  the 
'written  order  of  the  2oth  of  April,  which  has  been  pub 
lished  and  passed  into  history,  instead  of  your  verbal 
order  of  the  23d,  which  was  the  one  in  accordance 
with  which  the  fleet  passed  up  the  river,  and  the  battle 
was  fought.  This  error  has  resulted  in  an  inextricable 
historical  muddle,  as  the  history  of  the  battle  has  been 
written  on  the  basis  of  the  published  programme  of 
April  2Oth  never  carried  out.  The  formation  and  posi 
tion  of  the  attacking  force  is  therefore  entirely  misunder 
stood  by  the  historians. 

*  *  *  *  * 

"The  resolution  of  the  United  States  senate  of  June 
6th,  1862,  and  accompanying  documents,  of  which  two 
thousand  were  printed,  perpetuates  the  error  of  our 
passing  the  forts  in  two  columns  abreast." 

Admiral  Bailey  then  enumerates  the  mistakes  made 
by  several  historians  of  the  war,  who  had  been  led  to 
treat  the  part  taken  by  the  Cayuga  with  neglect  and 
injustice  on  account  of  Admiral  Farragut's  erroneous 
reports,  and  continues  thus  : 

"The  leading  up,  and  heavy  single-hand  fighting  of 
the  Cayuga,  her  taking  the  surrender  of  three  of  the 
enemy's  gunboats,  and  the  Chalmette  regiment  of 
infantry  ;  and  cutting  the  telegraphic  communication 
between  the  forts  and  New  Orleans,  and  other  circum 
stances,  are  not  mentioned." 

Admiral  Bailey  closes  with  an  earnest  demand  that 
if  the  facts  of  history  cannot  be  truthfully  presented  in 
any  other  way,  then  a  board  of  inquiry  should  be  insti 
tuted,  and  they  should  be  ascertained  and  placed  on 
record  correctly. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  83 

To  this  first  appeal  of  Admiral  Bailey,  Admiral  Far- 
ragut  did  not  make  a  very  satisfactory  reply,  which  drew 
the  following  clear  and  spirited  statement  from  Admiral 
Bailey  : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  27,  1869. 

"  MY  DEAR  ADMIRAL  : 

"I  have  received,  and  carefully  read,  your  letter  of 
the  3d,  in  reply  to  mine  of  the  ist  instant,  and  admit  all 
you  say  about  prominently  mentioning  my  name  to  the 
department.  But  you  remark,  '  As  to  historians  I  can 
do  nothing.'  This  is  so  ;  but  the  difficulty  is  that  the 
historians  derived  their  erroneous  account  of  the  battle 
from  your  report  of  the  6th  of  May,  1862,  and  from  the 
diagram  which  you  sent  to  the  department,  as  the  true 
order  of  sailing  into  the  battle  with  the  forts.  Those 
who  have  written  on  the  subject  are  not  to  be  blamed 
for  citing  the  official  reports.  I  hope  to  prevent  similar 
error  and  confusion  for  the  future.  I  do  so  with  the 
greatest  reluctance,  as  a  duty  to  the  officers  under  my 
immediate  command  and  myself,  and  I  appeal  to  your 
sense  of  justice  whether  I  could  do  less. 

"You  state — 'I  have  just  re-read  my  [your]  report 
of  May  6th,  and  your  [my]  two  reports  following,  and 
cannot  conceive  how  you  could  be  more  prominently 
mentioned  to  the  department. 

"  '  In  the  former  you  are  reported  as  leading  the  right 
column  in  the  gunboat  Caytiga,  and  as  having  preceded 
me  to  the  quarantine  station.' 

"How  could  there  have  been  a  'right'  and  a  'left' 
column  practically,  when  I  led  my  division  to  the 
attack  and  passage  of  the  forts,  an  hour  before  you 
lifted  anchors?  What  I  did  was  done  by  your  orders 
and  inspiration,  and  to  you  the  world  has  given  the 
credit  of  the  attack  and  its  success,  as  fully  as  it  gave 
to  Lord  Nelson  the  credit  of  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  but 


84        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

did  it  detract  from  his  glory  that  the  report  of  the  battle 
described  how  it  was  fought,  and  gave  the  exact  posi 
tion  of  his  vessel  and  those  of  his  subordinates? 

***** 

"  I  enclose  a  copy  of  the,  to  us,  unfortunate  diagram 
as  attached  to  your  report  of  the  battle,  which  you  will 
notice  places  the  Cayuga,  my  flag  gunboat,  third  in 
line  of  my  division,  whereas  that  gunboat  should  have 
been  recorded  first  in  line  leading. 

"  I  would  ask  of  your  friendship  and  your  fairness, 
whether  the  diagram  you  sent  gives  the  faintest  idea  of 
the  action,  and  whether  if  the  names  of  the  vessels  were 
altered,  it  would  not  apply  equally  well,  or  better,  to 
many  other  battles? 

"As  an  evidence  how  far  the  Cayuga  was  ahead  of 
the  rest  of  the  fleet,  the  first  news  received  at  the  North 
is  announced  in  the  New  York  Times  of  Sunday,  April 
27th,  1862,  thus : 

"  'An  important  report  from  the  rebels.  One  of  our 
gunboats  above  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  Wash 
ington,  Saturday,  April  26th.  The  Richmond  Exam 
iner  of  the  25th  announces  that  one  of  our  gunboats 
passed  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip  sixty  miles  below 
New  Orleans  on  the  24th .  The  report  was  telegraphed 
to  Norfolk,  and  brought  to  Fortress  Monroe  under  flag 
of  truce,  and  received  from  there  to-day  by  the  Navy 
Department.' 

"  The  next  rebel  telegram  announced  the  arrival  of 
the  fleet  before  the  city.  The  Cayuga  in  the  interval 
had  captured  the  Chalmette  regiment,  five  miles  above 
the  forts,  and  cut  the  telegraphic  communication  be 
tween  forts  and  city,  so  that  the  fleet  was  not  again 
reported  until  it  arrived  opposite  New  Orleans. 

"Now,  my  dear  Admiral,  you  have  entirely  miscon 
ceived  the  object  of  my  addressing  you.  It  is  not  to 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS        85 

complain  that  you  have  not  mentioned  me  prominently 
in  your  despatch,  but  it  is  because  in  your  report  of  the 
battle  dated  May  6th,  and  the  accompanying  diagram, 
you  do  not  give  the  circumstances  of  the  fight  as  they 
occurred,  but  those  which  would  apply  to  your  former 
plan,  which  was  abandoned. 

"  From  that  report  the  reader  would  infer  that  the  fleet 
went  to  the  attack  of  the  forts  in  two  columns  abreast, 
when  it  was  done  in  single  column,  line  ahead  ;  that 
the  Hartford  was  the  leading  vessel,  when  in  realitv  it 
was  the  ninth  in  line  astern  of  the  Cayuga^  and  there 
was  no  left  or  right  of  line,  but  single  file.  That  you 
should  for  a  moment  leave  so  erroneous  a  report  on  rec 
ord,  uncorrected,  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  your  officers, 
and  that  you  should  not  have  made  the  correction  as 
soon  as  your  attention  was  called  to  it,  is  still  more 

embarrassing  to  us. 

***** 

"  I  have  delayed  my  reply  because  I  wished  to  be 
certain  that  I  said  nothing  in  haste  that  would  be  annoy 
ing  to  you  or  improper  in  me  to  say,  and  I  hope  you 
will  now  see  the  matter  as  I  and  others  do,  and  make 
the  correction  so  necessary  to  justice  in  your  report 
dated  May  6,  1862,  and  substitute  a  diagram  of  the  actual 
positions  your  vessels  and  officers  occupied  in  the  line 
of  attack,  in  the  place  of  those  now  on  the  files  of  the 
Navy  Department. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Respectfully,  vour  obedient  servant, 

"  THEODORUS  BAILEY,  Rear  Admiral. 

CORRECTION  BY  ADMIRAL  FARRAGUT. 

"  NEW  YORK,  May  19,  1869. 


"  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  make  the  correction  you 


86        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

desire  in  the  diagram  of  the  Mississippi  battle,  as  I  now 
fully  comprehend  what  you  wish  in  this  matter. 

"  In  fact,  I  cannot  understand  how  this  sketch  of  the 
first  proposed  order  of  battle — wherein  you  are  placed 
third  instead  of  at  the  head  of  the  column — should  have 
been  attached  to  the  report,  in  lieu  of  the  one  which 
was  afterward  adopted. 

"  By  referring  to  this  report  you  will  observe  that  the 
diagram  accompanies  a  general  order,  issued  four  days 
before  the  action,  as  a  preparatory  plan  of  attack,  which 
was  subsequently  changed.  But  still  I  cannot  under 
stand  why,  even  in  this  sketch,  you  should  not  have 
been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  starboard  column. 

"This  diagram,  as  you  are  aware,  was  the  original 
plan,  to  be  changed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  as  circum 
stances  might  justify,  and  the  vessels  were  placed 
according  to  the  rank  of  the  officers  respectively  com 
manding  them,  but  should  not  have  made  part  of  the 
report  of  the  final  action,  as,  on  reflection,  I  decided 
that  when  the  chains  were  parted  the  plan  ot  'line 
ahead  '  should  be  adopted,  as  the  best  calculated  for  the 
preservation  of  the  vessels,  and  for  avoiding  all  chances 
of  fouling.  Therefore  when  the  time  arrived,  and  the 
signal  given,  the  order  of  sailing  was  changed  to  line  of 
battle,  the  verbal  instructions  to  which  you  allude  were 
carried  out,  and  you  led  at  the  head  of  your  division,  and 
it  has  always  afforded  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  say 
that  you  performed  your  duties  most  fearlessly  and 
gallantly. 

"  For  this  reason  I  was,  at  the  outset,  a  little  surprised 
that  you  should  have  apparently  complained  of  my  re 
port,  but  my  examination  of  the  printed  diagram  has 
fully  satisfied  me  of  the  justice  of  your  appeal. 

"I  shall,  therefore,  forward  to  the  department  a  cor- 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  87 

rect   sketch   of  the   final   attack    as  we    passed    up   the 
river.          "  I  am  very  truly, 

"Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

"  D.  G.  FARRAGUT,  Admiral,  U.  S.  JV" 


THE    CORRECTED    DIAGRAM. 

Copied  from  the  amended  diagram  on  file  in  the  navy 
department,  and  certified  to  be  a  true  copy  : 

HOLMES  E.  OFFLEY,  Chief  Clerk. 
June  2,  1869. 

Order  of  the  fleet  in  passing  up  to  the   attack  of  forts 
Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  April  24th,  1862  : 


First  Division  leading 
under  command  of 
Capt.  Theodoras  Bailey. 


Chain  and  obstructions, 
Centre  Division. 

Admiral  D.  G.  Farragut. 


Third  Division, 
Capt.  H.  H.  Bell. 


Cayuga,   Lt.  Com.  Harrison. 
Pensacola,  flag  gunboat, 

Capt.  H.  W.  Morris. 
Mississippi,  Capt.  M.  Smith. 
Oneida,  Comd'r  S.  P.  Lee. 
Varuna,  Comd'r  C.  S.  Boggs. 
Katahdin,     Lt.   Com.     G.   H. 

Preble. 

Kineo,  Lt.  Com.  Ransom. 
Wissahickon,  Lt.  Com.  A.  N. 

Smith. 


o     Hartford,  Com.  Wainwright. 

o     Brooklyn,  Capt.  T.  J.  Craven. 

o     Richmond,  Com.  J.  Alden. 

o     Sciota,  Lieut.   Com.   Donald 
son. 

o     Iroquois,  Com.  De  Camp. 

o     Kennebec,  Lieut.    Com.    Rus 
sell. 

o     Pinola,  Lieut.  Com.  Crosby. 

o     Itasca,     Lieut.    Com.     Cald- 
well. 

o      Winone,    Lieut.    Com.   Nich- 

olls. 
Very  respectfully, 

D.  G.  FARRAGUT. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 
LETTERS    TO    THE    SECRETARY    OF    THE    NAVY. 

"  NEW  YORK,  May  24,  1869. 

"  SIR  :  My  attention  having  been  called  by  Rear  Ad 
miral  Bailey  to  an  incorrect  sketch  which  accompanied 
my  report  of  May  6,  1862,  upon  the  passage  of  forts 
Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  I  have  the  honor  to  forward 
herewith  a  corrected  diagram,  showing  the  position  of 
the  vessels  at  the  time  they  passed  through  the  obstruc 
tions  after  the  chains  had  been  separated.  This  will 
demonstrate  that  Rear  Admiral  (then  Captain)  Bailey 
led  the  fleet  in  the  Cayuga  up  to  the  attack  on  the  forts, 
as  had  been  previously  ordered. 

"  This  correction  has  not  been  made  before,  because 
I  was  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  the  mistake — the 
diagram  being  evidently  a  clerical  error,  and  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  text,  in  which  I  distinctly  state,  that  Rear 
Admiral  Bailey  not  only  led,  but  performed  his  duty 
with  great  gallantry,  to  which  I  called  the  attention  of 
the  department. 

"Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  D.  G.  FARRAGUT,  Admiral,  U.  S.  N. 

"  Hon.  A.  E.  BORIE,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Wash 
ington." 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  25,  1869. 
"  HON.  A.  E.  BORIE,  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY  : 

"  SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  herewith,  orig 
inal  and  certified  copies  of  a  correspondence  which  I 
have  had  with  Admiral  D.  G.  Farragut,  relating  to  the 
battle  below  New  Orleans,  and  to  request  that  the  letters 
marked  from  A  to  E  be  placed  on  the  file  in  the  Navy 
Department  as  furnishing  a  correction  of  that  officer's 
report  with  an  accompanying  diagram  heretofore  made 
to  the  department. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON.  PERKINS.  89 

"The  object  of  my  addressing  Admiral  Farragut  is 
now  gained  by  the  admission  on  his  part  of  the  correct 
ness  of  my  statements,  that  the  fleet  under  his  command 
went  up  the  Mississippi  river  to  attack  and  pass  Forts 
Jackson  and  St.  Philip  in  order  of  battle,  '  line  ahead' 
or  single  file  ;  that  I  led  the  fleet  into  battle  at  the  head 
of,  and  in  command  of,  the  Vanguard  Division,  and  that 
the  Hartford,  flagship  with  Admiral  Farragut  on  board, 
followed  my  division,  he  being  thus  ninth  in  line,  and  at 
the  head  of  the  rest  of  the  fleet  in  the  order  represented 
by  the  list  of  vessels  which  I  hereto  annex. 

"After  this  frank  admission  by  my  distinguished 
commander,  I  have  only  the  regret  remaining  that  the 
error  into  which  he  was  led  was  not  discovered  and 
corrected  at  an  earlier  date. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
" THEODORUS  BAILEY, 

"  Rear  Admiral,  U.  S.  N." 

Before  opening  this  correspondence  with  Admiral 
Farragut,  Admiral  Bailey  wrote  George  a  letter,  from 
which  I  make  the  following  extracts  : 

"  349  FIFTH  AVENUE, 
"  NEW  YORK,  March  19,  1869. 
<'Mv  DEAR  PERKINS: 

"  Since  you  left,  I  was  ordered  here  on  court-martial 
duty,  leaving  my  family  in  Washington. 

*  *  *  *  * 

"  Will  you  please  state  to  me  what  is  your  recollec 
tion  of  the  facts  about  Farragut  and  his  general  orders, 
issued  on  the  2Oth  April,  1862,  with  accompanying 
programme?  He  contemplated  going  up  the  river  in 
two  columns,  the  Hartford,  with  his  blue  flag,  heading 


90  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

the  left  or  western  column  of  vessels,  and  the  Cayuga, 
bearing  my  fi*agi  the  right  or  eastern  column.  But 
after  the  chain  and  boom  obstructions  of  the  rebels  were 
cut,  it  became  manifest  that  if  we  went  up  in  two  col 
umns  as  proposed,  both  columns  would  (in  the  night) 
be  liable  to  get  foul  of  the  obstructions,  under  the  guns 
and  fire  of  the  forts.  Admiral  Farragut,  therefore, 
with  his  usual  good  sense  and  sagacity,  on  the  after 
noon  of  the  23d  of  April,  verbally  changed  the  pro 
gramme  and  order  of  sailing,  ordering  me 
to  lead  in  the  Cayuga  with  mv  whole  division  past  the 
forts,  which  we  successfully  did. 

"After  the  battles,  Farragut  sent  home,  and  had  pub 
lished,  the  order  and  programme  of  the  twentieth  of 
April,  by  which  the  false  impression  is  recorded  and 
placed  on  the  files  of  the  department,  and  the  error  has 
become  history, — that  the  fleet  passed  the  forts  in  two 
columns,  headed  by  himself.  He  has  made  no  mention 
of  his  having  annulled  verbally  said  order,  and  order 
ing  me  to  lead  up  past  the  forts  in  the  Cayuga  in  single 
file,  line  ahead.  Or,  that  my  whole  division  so  passed 
up,  and  was  fighting  the  enemy's  fleet  above  the  forts, 
before  Farragut  in  the  Hartford  got  under  fire. 

"History,  in  consequence  of  the  suppression  of  the 
aforementioned  facts  in  the  report  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief,  has  not  done  me  or  my  command  the  justice 
due  us,  and  I  must  look  to  the  young  officers  who 
served  with  me  on  that  glorious  occasion  to  help  me 

make  the  correction. 

***** 

"  With  kind  regard, 

"  I  remain,  truly  your  friend, 
"  THEODORUS  BAILEY,  Rear  Adni'l. 
"  Lieut.  Comd'r, 

"  GEORGE  H.  PERKINS,  Concord,  N.  H." 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  91 

George  replied  to  this  letter  and  supported  Admiral 
Bailey  in  the  entirely  just  claim  which  he  made  for  a 
correction  of  Admiral  Farragut's  report. 

George's  letters  home,  written  almost  in  the  midst  of 
the  attack  on  the  forts  and  while  ascending  to  New 
Orleans,  bear  evidence,  which  cannot  be  doubted,  of 
the  truth  of  Admiral  Bailey's  claim,  and  give  a  report,, 
whose  genuineness  cannot  be  disputed,  of  the  part 
taken  by  the  Cayttga.  Admiral  Farragut's  indifference 
to  the  promotion  and  rewards  of  his  junior  officers  was 
the  subject  of  much  comment  in  the  service,  and  was 
a  blot  upon  his  fame.  At  meetings  for  the  purpose, 
which  were  held  when  the  war  was  over,  Farragut 
manifested  perfect  indifference  to  the  interests  of  those 
who  served  him  so  faithfully.  He  was  fully  aware  of 
their  merits,  and,  as  regards  my  brother,  often  spoke 
most  appreciatively  in  his  praise.  Only  a  month  before 
Admiral  Farragut's  death,  he  said  to  a  naval  officer,  in 
talking  over  the  battles  of  New  Orleans  and  Mobile  : 

O 

"Perkins  was  young  and  handsome,  and  as  brave  a 
man  as  ever  trod  the  deck  of  a  ship." 

I  return  to  note  Admiral  Bailey's  reply  to  George. 
He  says  : 

"Your  letter  has  been  received,  and  the  narrative  of 
the  facts  very  cleverly  and  lucidly  written.  I  have 
written  to  Admiral  Farragut  requesting  that  the  records 
of  the  light  be  corrected  so  as  to  conform  to  the  facts. 
I  may  have  to  quote  from  your  letter,  and  beg  you  to 
accept  my  thanks  for  it." 

Extracts  from  the  reports  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
as  given  in  the  New  York  Herald  at  different  dates 
during  the  month  of  May,  1862  : 

"  Lieut.  Beverly  Kennon,  late  of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  is 
now  our  prisoner.  In  the  engagement  of  Thursday 


92  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

morning  he  commanded  the  steamer  Gov.  Moore,  for 
merly  the  Morgan.  Kennon  states  that  the  fight  was 
one  of  unparalleled  fury.  The  Cayuga  fired  a  stand  of 
grape  at  his  pivot  gun,  where  fifteen  men  were  sta 
tioned  ;  thirteen  were  killed  by  it,  one  man  alone  and 
himself  escaping.  This  Kennon  is  a  secessionist  and 
a  savage.  Previous  to  the  fight  his  steward  in  some 
manner  displeased  him,  and  he  hacked  him  to  pieces 
with  his  sword  and  threw  him  overboard  half  alive. 
He  set  his  ship  on  fire  without  making  any  attempt  to 
rescue  his  wounded." 

"  The  little  Cayuga  deserves-  more  than  a  passing 
notice,  and  Captain  Bailey's  and  Lieutenant  Com 
mander  Harrison's  reports  are  full  of  interest.  Her 
gallant  leading  on  the  morning  of  the  24th,  and  the 
eading  of  the  fleet  on  the  noon  of  the  25th,  and  thus 
remaining,  receiving,  and  returning  a  heavy  fire  for  over 
a  quarter  of  an  hour,  ranks  her  primer o  of  her  class. 

"  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  April  28th,  1862,  the 
Cayuga  turned  her  head  down  the  river,  bearing  the 
dispatches  of  the  glorious  victory.  Captain  Bailey 
goes  home  in  her  as  bearer  of  dispatches  to  the  Navy 
Department." 

ARRIVAL  OF  TROPHIES  FROM  NEW  ORLEANS. 

"  WASHINGTON,  May  9,  1862. 

"  Captain  Bailey  of  the  gunboat  Cayuga  reached 
here  to-day  with  dispatches  and  trophies.  Among 
these  is  a  splendid  silk  flag  that  was  borne  by  the  old 
Chalmette  regiment." 

HERALD  CORRESPONDENT'S    ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PASSAGE 
OF  THE  FORTS. 

"Shot,  shell,  grape,  and  canister  filled  the  air  with 
deadly  missiles.  It  was  like  the  breaking  up  of  a 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  93 

thousand  worlds.  Crash — tear — whiz  !  Such  another 
scene  was  never  witnessed  by  mortal  man.  And  to 
add  to  this  state  of  affairs,  thirteen  steamers  and  the 
floating  battery  Louisiana  of  the  enemy  were  pouring 
into  and  around  us  a  hailstorm  of  iron  perfectly  inde 
scribable.  To  add  to  this,  fireraft  after  fireraft,  burning 
fiercely,  was  around  or  bearing  down  upon  us." 

Admiral  Farragut's  report  gives  a  general  confirma 
tory  statement  of  the  preceding  extracts.  From  Cap 
tain  Bailev's  and  Lieutenant  Commander  Harrison's  I 
will  quote  the  following,  premising  that  the  first  of 
Captain  Bailey's  report  explains  the  reason  why  the 
Cayuga,  a  gunboat,  was  chosen  for  his  flagship,  which 
was  chiefly  because  a  light  draught  vessel  would  be 
required  to  cross  the  bar  : 

"At  two  a.  m.  on  the  morning  of  the  24th,  the  signal 
to  advance  was  thrown  out  from  the  flagship.  The 
Cayuga  immediately  weighed  anchor  and  led  on  the 
column.  We  were  discovered  at  the  boom,  and  at  a 
little  beyond  both  forts  opened  their  fire.  When  close 
up  with  St.  Philip  we  opened  with  grape  and  canister, 
still  steering  on.  After  passing  this  line  of  fire,  we 
encountered  the  Montgomery  flotilla,  consisting  of 
eighteen  gunboats,  including  the  ram  Manassas,  and 
iron  battery  Louisiana  of  twenty  guns. 

4  *  This  was  a  moment  of  anxiety,  as  no  supporting 
ship  was  in  sight.  By  skilful  steering,*  however,  we 
avoided  their  attempts  to  butt  and  board,  and  had  suc 
ceeded  in  forcing  the  surrender  of  three,  when  the 
Varunci)  Captain  Boggs,  and  Oneida,  Captain  Lee, 
were  discovered  near  at  hand. 

"At  early  dawn  we  discovered  a  rebel  camp  at  the 
right  bank  of  the  river.  *  *  *  This  proved  to  be 

*  1  cannot  help  calling  attention  to  this  unconscious  compliment  to  George. 


94  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

the  Chalmette  regiment.  On  the  morning  of  the  25th, 
still  leading,  and  considerably  ahead  of  the  line,  the 
Chalmette  batteries,  situated  three  miles  below  the 
city,  opened  a  cross-fire  on  the  Cayuga.  To  this  we 
responded  with  our  two  guns.  At  the  end  of  twenty 
minutes  the  flagship  ranged  up  alongside  and  silenced 
the  enemy. 

"From  this  point  no  other  obstacles  were  encoun 
tered  except  burning  steamers,  cotton  ships,  firerafts, 
and  the  like.  Immediately  after  anchoring  in  front  of 
the  city  I  was  ordered  on  shore  by  the  flag-officer  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  the  city,  and  that  the  flag 
should  be  hoisted  on  the  post-office,  custom-house,  and 

mint. 

***** 

"  On  the  28th  of  April  both  forts  surrendered  to  Com 
mander  Porter.  *  *  *  Lieutenant  Commanding 
N.  B.  Harrison  was  gallantly  sustained  by  Lieutenant 
George  H.  Perkins,  and  Acting  Master  Thomas  H. 
Morton.  These  officers  have  my  unbounded  admira 
tion." 

Lieutenant  Commanding  Harrison  gives  an  extract 
from  the  ship's  log,  repeating  previous  statements,  and 
then  says  : 

"  We  were  struck  forty-two  times.  Both  masts  are 
so  badly  hurt  as  to  be  unfit  for  further  service.  Our 
eleven-inch  Dahlgren  carriage  struck,  but  still  fit  for 
duty.  The  smoke  stack  perforated,  but  not  materially 
injured.  All  other  damages  have  been  repaired.  I 
regret  to  add  that  six  of  our  crew  have  been  wounded, 
but  so  far  the  surgeon  has  made  but  one  amputation. 

"It  is  needless  for  me  to  inform  you,  who  had  us 
under  your  own  eyes,  that  all  did  their  duty  fearlessly 
and  well  ;  but  I  must  commend  to  your  especial  notice 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.        95 

my  executive  officer,  Lieutenant  George  H.  Perkins. 
The  remarkable  coolness  and  precision  of  this  young 
officer,  while  aiding  me  in  steering  the  vessel  through 
the  barrier  and  past  the  forts,  under  their  long  and 
heavy  fire,  must  have  attracted  your  attention." 
***** 

"  APRIL  25.  I  continue  this  report  through  the  bat 
tles  of  to-day.  At  u  a.  m.,  being  at  that  moment  some 
half  a  mile  in  advance  of  the  flag-ship,  the  batteries  on 
either  hand  opened  on  us  at  short  range.  Being  pivoted 
to  port,  I  edged  off  with  the  port  helm,  and  responded 
with  one  n-inch  and  Parrott  slowly,  but  with  great  pre 
cision  of  aim.  This  unequal  contest  lasted  just  fifteen 
minutes,  when  the  flag-ship  ranged  up  in  splendid  style, 
diverting  their  fire. 

***** 

"We  were  again  repeatedly  hulled  and  much  cut  up 
in  spars  and  rigging,  and  the  iron  stock  of  the  port 
anchor  cut  away. 

***** 

"  Respectfully, 
"  N.   B.   HARRISON,  Lieutenant  Commanding-. 

"  CAPTAIN  T.  BAILEY,   Second  in    Command, 

"  Commanding  Leading  Division  of  Gunboat." 

In  this  report  of  Lieutenant  Commanding  Harrison, 
it  is  to  be  noticed  that  he  addresses  Captain  Bailey  as 
*' Commanding  Leading  Division  of  Gunboats." 

In  frank  Leslie's  Illustrated  JVewspaper,  published 
May  3ist,  1862,  there  is  a  sketch  by  their  special  artist, 
William  Ward,  who  was  on  the  spot,  representing 
"The  landing  of  Captain  Bailey  and  Lieutenant  Per 
kins  on  the  levee,  New  Orleans,  with  a  flag  of  truce  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  the  city." 


96        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

It  is  a  spirited  sketch,  and  doubtless  derives  its  spirit 
from  its  truth.  The  frantic  mob  is  depicted  rushing 
towards  the  little  boat  with  only  eight  occupants,  six 
sailors  and  two  officers,  in  whose  faces  rebel  flags  are 
being  shaken,  with  the  accompaniment  of  pistols  and 
fists — the  howls  and  curses  are  easily  imagined. 

In  the  same  paper  is  a  picture  of  Captain  Bailey  and 
a  short  notice  of  him,  which  speaks  of  his  having  taken 
the  first  Confederate  flag  in  the  advance  on  New  Or 
leans,  and  as  having  been  sent  to  Washington  with 
despatches  and  trophies,  in  compliment  to  the  bravery 
he  had  displayed. 

From  a  rebel  paper,  the  New  Orleans  Democrat,  I 
copy  extracts  of  its  account  of  Captain  Bailey's  and 
Lieutenant  Perkins's  proceedings  when  they  went  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  the  city.  The  bombastic  style 
in  which  this  is  written,  and  the  determination  of  the 
writer  to  prove  that  New  Orleans  was  not  conquered 
and  could  not  be  surrendered,  are  positively  ludicrous, 
and  the  whole  thing  is  entertaining  as  a  specimen  of 
Southern  newspaper  writing — except  that  there  is  a 
most  tragic  side  to  the  folly  and  selfishness  and  wilful- 
ness  that  caused  a  whole  country  such  suffering. 

The  article  describes  fluently  the  rebel  efforts  to  pro 
tect  the  city  ;  gives  minutely  the  genealogy  and  family 
connections  of  the  commanding  officers,  and  though  it  is 
reluctantly  compelled  to  admit  that  one  of  them  was  a 
sign-painter,  yet  vouchsafes  to  him  the  condescending 
phrase  of  "  good  citizen."  Our  fleet,  as  it  appeared 
before  New  Orleans,  is  thus  described  : 

*'  Slowly  and  majestically  the  large  steamers  moved 
on  until  they  rounded  the  bend  and  entered  the  cres 
cent  part  of  the  city.  There  a  scene  confronted  them 
which  must  have  been  little  gratifying  to  their  highest 
instincts,  how  much  soever  it  may  have  pampered  the 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  97 

pride   of  physical   force   and   the   exultation   of  victory 
over  a  defenceless  but  intrepid  foe. 

"There  lay  the  sullen  and  gloomy  city,  still  smoking 
with  the  patriotic  conflagration  by  which  it  had  destroyed 
everything  that  might  minister  to  the  pride  and  avarice 
of  the  enemy.  Its  long  levee  and  vast  wharves  bare  of 
everything  that  usually  appertains  to  a  great  commer 
cial  city,  and  now  densely  packed  by  a  multitude  of 
frowning,  defiant,  frantic  men,  women,  and  children. 
This  multitude  seemed  to  be  moved  by  one  impulse,  one 
passion,  by  one  bitter,  burning,  inextinguishable  hate," 
etc.,  etc.,  on  through  columns  of  pompous  sentences, 
whose  language  is  inflated  by  sectional  spite,  untem- 
pered  by  one  ray  of  reason.  The  article  is  divided  into 
heads,  and  the  next  extract  is  from  that  portion  entitled 
"  Elemental  and  Popular  Wrath  : " 

."Just  as  the  fleet  had  taken  position  to  anchor,  a 
sudden  storm  blew  up  and  the  rain  began  to  fall  with 
great  violence,  dispersing  or  greatly  reducing  the 
crowd  on  the  levee.  This  rain  continued  for  some 
hours.  In  the  midst  of  it  a  boat  was  seen  to  put  oft' 
from  a  ship.  It  landed  at  the  foot  of  Laurel  street, 
wrhere  a  large  crowd  quickly  gathered.  Out  of  the 
boat  stepped  an  elderly,  corpulent  officer  with  a  very 
red  face,  a  grave  expression,  and  an  air  of  command. 
He  wore  his  sword,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  young 
and  handsome  naval  officer.  These  proved  to  be  Cap 
tain  Bailey,  second  in  command  of  the  fleet,  and 
Lieutenant  Perkins.  They  asked  the  direction  to  the 
mayor's  office.  There  was  no  one  in  the  crowd  to 
answer.  They  were  told  to  find  their  own  way.  Ac 
cordingly  they  started  up  the  street,  in  the  pelting, 
furious  rain,  followed  by  the  crowd,  which  increased  in 
their  progress,  yelling  and  shouting,  '  Down  with  the 
Yankees  ! '  '  Kill  them  ! '  '  Hang  them  ! ' 
7 


98        LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  Several  citizens  here  rushed  forward  to  protect  the 
officers.  They  were  repelled  and  roughly  handled  by 
the  furious  mob.  The  Federal  officers  were  in  great 
danger.  At  last  two  venerable  and  much  respected 
citizens — William  Freret  and  L.  E.  Forstall,  a  member 
of  the  city  council — made  their  way  through  the  crowd, 
which  was  threatening  the  officers  with  speedy  destruc 
tion,  and  each  seizing  the  arm  of  one  of  the  officers 
conducted  them  in  safety  to  the  mayor's  office. 

"  SCENE    IN    THE    CITY    HALL. 

"The  mayor  with  his  friends,  several  members  of 
the  city  government,  several  prominent  citizens,  includ 
ing  Mr.  Soule,  were  present  when  Captain  Theodorus 
Bailey  and  Lieutenant  Perkins  were  introduced. 
Meantime  a  vast  and  excited  crowd  had  collected 
around  the  city  hall,  whose  shouts  and  cries  could  be 
distinctly  heard  within.  Captain  Bailey  quickly  stated 
his  mission  to  the  mayor.  He  came  by  order  of  Com 
modore  Farragut,  commanding  the  fleet  now  in  the 
port,  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  city  and  the  eleva 
tion  of  the  flag  over  the  custom-house,  the  mint,  the 
post-office,  and  the  city  hall. 

"  PROMPT    ANSWER    OF    THE    MAYOR. 

"The  mayor  replied:  'I  am  not  the  military  com 
mander  of  the  city.  I  have  no  authority  to  surrender 
it,  and  would  not  do  it  if  I  had.  There  is  a  military 
commander  now  in  the  city,  who  is  charged  by  the 
Confederate  States  with  the  defences  of  the  city.  To 
him  your  command  must  be  addressed.  I  will  send  for 
him  if  you  desire.'  Captain  Bailey  assented,  and  a 
messenger  was  despatched  for  General  Lovell. 

"  LOVELL    APPEARS. 

"  Presently  there  was  a  hurrah  without — a  parting  of 
the  crowd — and  Major  General  Lovell  made  his  way 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  99 

up  the  steps  and  into  the  mayor's  office.  He  was 
introduced  to  Captain  Bailey,  who  declared  his  charac 
ter  and  credentials,  as  second  in  command  of  the 
United  States  fleet  now  before  the  city. 

"General  Lovell — 'I  am  Major-General  Lovell, 
Confederate  Commander  of  this  Department.' 

"  Captain  Bailey  then  stated  his  mission  in  the  same 
terms  as  he  had  made  it  known  to  the  mayor,  adding 
that  he  was  instructed  by  Commodore  Farragut  to 
express  his  great  regret  at  the  destruction  of  private 
property  in  the  city. 

"General  Lovell — 'In  reply  to  his  demand,  say  to 
Commodore  Farragut  that  I  decline  to  surrender  the 
city,  nor  will  I  allow  it  to  be  surrendered  ;  that  being 
unable  to  fight  him  on  water,  I  have  sent  my  troops 
out  of  the  city;  that  there  are  now  no  armed  troops  in 
the  city,  nothing  but  women  and  children,  and  if  he 
desires  to  shell  them  he  can  do  so  on  his  own  responsi 
bility,'  etc.,  etc. 

"  Lovell  finally  closed  bv  saying  that  he  would  retire 
and  leave  the  city  authorities  to  pursue  their  own 
course  in  the  matter.  For  himself  he  would  go  back  to 
the  army  with  which  he  would  be  happy  to  meet  them 
in  fair  and  equal  combat. 

"Captain  Bailey  replied,  and  again  said  how  much 
Commodore  Farragut  regretted  to  see  so  much  property 
uselessly  destroyed. 

"  General  Lovell — '  It  was  done  by  my  orders,  sir  ! ' 
With  this  the  interview  terminated.  Captain  Bailey 
requested  an  escort  back  to  his  boat  as  a  protection 
against  the  mob,  who  seemed  to  be  very  violent 
and  threatening.  It  was  suggested  they  be  taken 
out  through  the  rear  of  the  building  in  charge  of  two 
Confederate  majors,  while  Mr.  Soule  and  General 
Lovell  addressed  the  crowd  in  front." 


100       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

Thus  ended  this  scene,  so  full  of  ludicrous  display  of 
Southern  logic,  and  so  fraught  with  deadly  peril  to  the 
lives  of  two  brave  men. 

In  this  connection  should  be  read  the  correspondence 
of  Commodore  Farragut  and  the  mayor  of  New 
Orleans,  in  which  the  Commodore,  after  considering 
several  insolent  and  bombastic  communications  from 
the  city  functionary,  gave  up  the  intercourse  with  min 
gled  despair  and  contempt,  and  referred  the  whole 
affair  to  General  Butler. 

From  an  article  published  in  the  New  York  Century 
of  April,  1885,  and  written  by  the  distinguished  author, 
George  W.  Cable,  I  extract  the  following  description 
of  Captain  Bailey  and  George  as  they  went  to  demand 
the  surrender  of  New  Orleans  : 

"The  crowds  on  the  levee  howled  and  screamed 
with  rage,  and  now  the  rain  came  down  in  sheets. 
About  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  (as  I  remem 
ber),  I  being  again  in  the  store  with  but  one  door  ajar, 
came  a  roar  of  shoutings  and  imprecations  and  crowd 
ing  feet  down  Common  street — '  Hurrah  for  Jeff  Davis  ! 
Hurrah  for  Jeff  Davis  !  Shoot  them  !  Kill  them  !  Hang 
them  !  '  I  locked  the  door  on  the  outside  and  ran  to 
the  front  of  the  mob,  bawling  with  the  rest,  '  Hurrah 
for  Jeff  Davis  !  '  About  every  third  man  there  had  a 
weapon  out.  Two  officers  of  the  United  States  Navy 
were  walking  abreast,  unguarded  and  alone,  looking 
not  to  right  or  left,  never  frowning,  never  flinching, 
while  the  mob  screamed  in  their  ears,  shook  cocked 
pistols  in  their  faces,  cursed  and  crowded  and  gnashed 
upon  them.  So  through  the  gates  of  death  these  two 
men  walked  to  the  city  hall  to  demand  the  town's  sur 
render.  It  was  one  of  the  bravest  deeds  I  ever  saw 
done." 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       IOI 

The  accompanying  wood  cut  is  also  taken  from  the 
Century. 

When  the  Cayuga  arrived  in  New  York  it  was  found 
that  the  necessary  repairs  would  detain  her  there  for 
some  time,  and  this  gave  George  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  short  visit  home,  where  it  is  needless  to  say  he 
was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  his  family  and 
friends.  Many  congratulatory  letters  were  written  to 
him  and  to  his  family  at  this  time  ;  some  from  noted 
people,  but,  I  regret  to  say,  they  were  not  generally 
preserved. 

The  following  is  from  an  old  friend  of  George's 
father,  who  had  known  George  well  as  a  little  boy  : 

"My  DEAR  JUDGE  : 

"I  received  a  paper  in  which  was  an  article  in  rela 
tion  to  the  conduct  of  your  noble  boy  at  New  Orleans  ; 
and  in  relating  his  story,  and  reading  the  notice  of  him 
to  my  friends,  I  never  have  failed  to  add  with  some 
pride  that  he  was  the  son  of  my  old  friend,  and  that  the 
young  hero,  when  he  was  a  i  little  cuss,'  bit  my  finger 
because  I  plagued  him  about  his  powny.* 

"Among  the  photographs  in  our  album,  his  stands 
conspicuous,  and  I  congratulate  you  and  Mrs.  Perkins 
upon  the  honorable  position  he  has  taken  in  our  gallant 
navy. 

"I  knew  of  the  part  he  had  taken  before  I  received 
the  paper,  as  from  the  deep  interest  I  take  in  the  sup 
pression  of  this  wicked  rebellion  there  is  little  occurs 
that  escapes  my  observation.  My  oldest  son  is  in  the 
Butler  expedition,  but  was  not  at  New  Orleans. 

"My  second  son  is  a  volunteer  officer  in  the  navy  ; 
was  on  board  the  Hetzcl  at  Newberne,  N.  C.,  but 
would  have  been  at  New  Orleans  had  his  vessel  not 

*  \Vhich  was  George's  childish  way  of  pronouncing  pony. 


102  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

been  wrecked  and  burned  at  Currituck  Island  on  the 
25th  of  February  last.  He  was  in  the  naval  fight  at 
Hilton  Head,  and  his  vessel  shot  away  the  rebel  flag 
staff.  He  was  also  off  Fortress  Monroe,  in  the 
jRoanoke,  when  the  engagement  took  place,  in  which 
the  fortunate  advent  of  the  Monitor  saved  our  fleet.  I 
shall  send  an  account  of  your  son's  action  to  my  sons. 

*  *  *  * 

"  I  am  ashamed  to  think  that  the  element  of  treason 
is  so  rampant  and  defiant,  and  that  while  your  boy  and 
mine  are  fighting  for  their  country  and  its  liberties, 
there  are  those  at  home  who  would  exult  over  our 
misfortunes,  and  pray  for  the  discomfiture  of  our  arms. 
May  these  traitors  receive  a  traitor's  doom  ! 
"  I  am, 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  WM.  S.  MORTON." 

Mr.  Morton,  writing  at  a  later  date,  says:  "I  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  my  son  a  few  days  since,  and  he 
informs  me  that  your  son  George  had  called  upon  him 
in  New  Orleans,  and  that  he  had  been  to  see  George 
on  board  ship.  He  writes  that  he  likes  your  son  very 
much, — that  it  is  pleasant  to  fall  in  with  such  a  true,, 
loyal,  and  bold-spoken  man.  He  says  that  George  hates 
a  traitor,  and  makes  it  manifest  whenever  he  speaks. " 

The  New  Hampshire  Patriot,  of  May  i4th,  1862, 
contained  the  following  : 

"LIEUTENANT    GEORGE    H.     PERKINS. 

"  Among  the  naval  officers  who  distinguished  them 
selves  in  the  naval  conflicts,  resulting  in  the  capture  of 
New  Orleans,  no  one  receives  higher  commendation,  in 
the  official  reports  of  the  commanding  officers,  than  our 
young  friend,  Lieut.  George  H.  Perkins,  son  of  Judge 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       103 

H.  E.  Perkins  of  this  city.  He  was  executive  officer  of 
the  gunboat  Cayuga,  Lieutenant  Commanding  N.  B. 
Harrison.  This  vessel  led  the  column  in  the  passage 
of  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  and  Captain  Bailey, 
the  Commander  of  the  Division,  was  on  board  of  her." 

The  article  then  gives  an  account  of  the  Battle  of 
New  Orleans,  with  extracts  from  Captain  Bailey's  and 
Lieutenant  Commanding  Harrison's  reports,  and  closes 
by  saying  : 

"  No  vessel  of  the  fleet  did  better  service  than  the 
Cayuga,  and  no  officer  displayed  greater  gallantry,  or 
won  more  honorable  distinction,  than  Lieutenant  Per 
kins." 

After  his  short  glimpse  of  home,  George  hastened 
back  to  New  York  to  resume  his  duties  on  the  Cayuga. 
His  mother  writes  him  : 

"I  hear  you  very  highly  spoken  of  by  every  one. 
Your  father  was  introduced  to  Professor  Patterson  yes 
terday  as  the  *  father  of  Lieutenant  Perkins  of  the 
Cayuga.'  Professor  Patterson  at  once  said  he  was  fa 
miliar  with  your  name,  and  had  seen  an  account  of  your 
bravery  in  the  papers.  I  suppose  now  we  shall  be 
known  as  the  relatives  of  the  brave  Lieutenant  Perkins  ! 
I  confess  I  do  not  realize  you  as  famous.  You  seem  to 
me  the  same  little  boy  I  used  to  scold  about  his  spelling. 
The  mothers  all  say  you  are  so  fortunate  because  you 
are  so  good  and  thoughtful  of  me." 

George  writes  home  from  New  York:  "  I  have  had 
a  letter  from  Captain  Harrison  telling  me  that  he  is  not 
coming  back  to  this  ship,  and  that  he  has  applied  for 
me  at  the  department,  but  I  hardly  think  I  shall  be  de 
tached. 

"  I  hear  that  Captain  Fairfax  is  to  have  command, 
and  I  shall  be  glad,  for  I  like  him.  We  are  working 


104  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

at  the   ship  all  the  time   to   have   her  ready  as  soon  as 
possible." 

Captain  Fairfax  did  receive  the  command,  and  wrote 
to  George  : 

"  I  was  gratified  yesterday  to  learn  through  Temple 
that  you  are  still  attached  to  the  Cayuga^  and  are  will 
ing — learning  that  I  am  detached  to  command  her — to 
remain  as  her  executive  officer.  I  receive  it  as  a  com 
pliment  that  my  joining  her  determined  you  on  staying 
by  the  little  gunboat  that  acted  so  important  a  part  at 
the  great  naval  battle  in  the  Mississippi. 

"  Really  it  is  the  bright  feature  in  joining  to  find  you 
the  first  lieutenant;  without  flattery  I  say  it,  you  are 
my  choice.  I  will  be  content  to  lie  on  my  oars  and  give 
you  full  charge.  So  go  ahead  and  do  anything  you 
think  is  necessary,  as  though  really  captain.  I  shall 
really  be  delighted  to  take  you  by  the  hand  again.  It 
will  recall  the  associations  out  on  the  coast.  How  many 
officers  that  we  knew  there  have  left  us  for  the  South  ! 

"  Make  such  choice  of  steward,  boys,  etc.,  as  you 
please.  I  have  confidence  in  your  taste  and  judgment ; 
and  if  you  make  a  mistake,  I  will  not  think  hard  of  it. 
I  am  so  much  pleased  at  having  you  that  I  am  content. 
We  must  have  a  happy,  efficient  craft! 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  DONALD  M.  FAIRFAX." 

While  he  stays  in  New  York,  George  writes  at  differ 
ent  dates  as  follows  : 

"  JUNE  4,  1862. 

"  We  are  ordered  to  return  to  the  Gulf  and  report  to 
Commodore  Farragut,  and  the  ship  will  soon  be  ready 
for  sea.  She  looks  better  than  she  ever  did,  and  we 
have  a  larger  crew,  and  carry  two  more  guns.  But  we 
have  suffered  a  great  loss  in  the  departure  of  Mr.  Mor- 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  105 

ton  and  Mr.  Rogers.  Mr.  Morton  has  resigned,  and 
Mr.  Rogers  is  detached,  and  I  am  very  sorry  for  the 
change." 

"  JUNE  8,  1862. 

"  Dr.  Bogart,  who  is  our  surgeon,  I  like  very  much. 
His  father  lives  on  Staten  Island,  and  has  a  large  fam 
ily.  I  enjoy  going  there  for  it  makes  me  think  of  home. 
People  are  very  polite  to  me,  and  I  have  a  great  many 
invitations  to  visit,  and  might  have  a  very  gay  time. 
Last  night  I  went  to  a  delightful  little  dancing  party  at 
the  Commodore's,  and  I  half  fell  in  love  with  a  beauti 
ful  girl  from  Troy  !  It  is  fortunate  I  am  going  to  sea  so 
soon. 

"  Love  to  the  boys,  who,  I  hope,  will  enjoy  their  trip 
to  the  White  Mountains. 

"  I  have  an  idea  that  this  cruise  will  be  over  about 
next  May,  and,  mother,  if  I  am  at  home  next  summer, 
you  and  I  must  certainly  go  to  the  mountains  together. 

"  Well,  I  never  sit  down  to  write  home  without  getting 
homesick.  I  will  send  letters  every  opportunity  I  have, 
and  you  must  not  feel  anxious  about  me — everything 
comes  out  for  the  best." 

The  next  letter  is  dated 

4<  BATON  ROUGE,  July  25,  1862. 

"  We  left  New  Orleans  on  the  ipth  and  arrived  here 
yesterday.  It  was  quite  exciting  coming  up  the  river. 
We  had  received  information  that  twelve  thousand 
guerillas  were  near  Baton  Rouge  committing  all  sorts 
of  depredations  on  the  Union  people. 

"We  anchored  one  night  to  guard  a  poor  woman 
whose  husband  had  been  taken  by  the  rebels  the  night 
before,  and  they  threatened  her,  if  she  told,  to  come 
back  and  burn  the  house.  I  went  ashore  about,  ten 


106  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

o'clock  at  night  to  see  that  everything  was  right.  They 
told  me  it  was  very  risky,  but  I  was  not  molested. 
Baton  Rouge  looks  quite  pretty  from  the  river.  We 
expect  attacks  every  night,  and  I  think  rather  than  have 
us  hold  the  place,  they  will  destroy  it. 

"I  am  having  rather  a  hard  time,  for  I  am  not  well 
and  am  under  the  doctor's  care.  Being  sick  in  this  hot 
climate  and  in  such  small  quarters  on  board  ship  is  not 
very  pleasant,  and  keeps  one  fretting  all  the  time.  Tell 
father  I  have  drunk  up  all  the  cider  he  gave  me,  and 
it  was  just  what  I  wanted  this  warm  weather." 

"  OFF  DONALDSONVILLE, 

"  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER,  July  28,  1862. 

"  Since  I  wrote  last  we  have  been  on  the  qui  vive 
about  a  ram  wrhich  has  appeared  in  the  river.  They 
say  it  attacked  Farragut's  fleet,  which  is  somewhere  near 
Vicksburg,  and  after  causing  a  great  deal  of  destruc 
tion,  actually  went  through  the  whole  of  the  two  large 
fleets,  and  got  safely  under  the  guns  at  Vicksburg,  and 
that  really  this  ram  has  the  whole  command  of  the 
river." 

"  JULY  30,  1862. 

"  We  had  received  orders  to  proceed  up  the  Red 
River,  but  this  morning  we  saw  all  the  Commodore's 
fleet  coming  down  the  Mississippi  from  Vicksburg  with 
all  the  troops,  and  there  is  a  change  of  programme. 
It  seems  the  Commodore  has  received  positive  orders 
from  the  department  to  take  the  fleet  to  Pensacola  and 
prepare  for  more  important  service. 

"  I  am  sorry  Commodore  Farragut's  winding  up  in 
this  river  has  turned  out  so.  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  :f  the  department  had  sustained  him,  the  river  would 
have  been  cleared  long  ago.  Anybody  would  grow 
inert  with  his  wheels  continually  blocked  ! 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       IO/ 

"  Before  coming  here  we  ran  up  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Red  River,  and  had  a  short  engagement  with  two  rebel 
vessels  ;  but  they  ran  away  from  us  into  shallow  water. 
We  got  aground  in  trying  to  follow  them  and  were  in 
great  danger,  for  if  they  had  known  it  and  had  come 
back,  I  am  afraid  they  could  have  taken  us." 

44  NEW  ORLEANS,  August  4,  1862. 
"  We  are  staying  here  for  a  short  time  before  going 
to  Pensacola,  where  we  follow  the  fleet.  I  have  met  a 
good  many  of  my  old  friends,  and  have  been  about  to- 
see  the  sights  of  the  city, — have  driven  out  on  the 
famous  shell-road,  etc., — but  I  am  much  disappointed 
in  them  all,  and  everything  strikes  me  as  rather  miser 
able  and  filthy.  The  people  ought  to  have  some  grati 
tude  to  General  Butler,  for  he  is  trying  to  get  the  city 
clean,  and  he  keeps  good  order." 

At  this  time  our  troops  were  driven  back  from  Baton 
Rouge  by  the  rebels,  and  all  the  Mississippi  River, 
above  New  Orleans,  was  in  their  hands  again.  Natur 
ally  enough,  George's  letters  home  are  full  of  indigna 
tion  at  this  state  of  things,  for  he  feels  sure  that  with 
energy  and  earnestness,  and  proper  support  from  the 
government,  this  need  never  have  happened,  but  that 
the  river  might  have  been  cleared  and  a  stop  put  to  the 
rebel  proceedings. 

"  OFF  MOBILE,  August  24,  1862. 

"  We  have  been  from  the  Mississippi  to  Pensacola  and 
back  here,  since  I  had  a  chance  to  send  a  letter.  We 
stayed  at  Pensacola  a  week,  and,  as  usual,  I  spent  my 
spare  time  hunting  and  fishing.  I  have  not  had  such  a 
good  chance  for  a  long  time,  and  there  were  quantities 
of  game — wild  turkeys,  deer,  all  sorts  of  birds — in 
abundance. 


108       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  How  long  we  shall  blockade  here  I  do  not  know. 
I  wish  they  would  make  an  attack  soon,  and  I  shall  be 
glad  when  the  war  is  over,  anyway.  I  would  rather 
fight  for  nothing  and  not  touch  my  pay,  and  give  up  all 
I  ever  expect  to  possess,  than  make  peace  now,  or  until 
we  conquer.  The  rebels  act  so  like  a  set  of  spoiled 
children  that  it  destroys  all  pity  for  them,  and  I  do  not 
care  whether  their  property  is  confiscated,  their  negroes 
freed,  or  what  is  done  to  punish  them. 

"  It  gets  very  monotonous  on  the  blockade,  though 
sometimes  the  sails  will  appear  quite  often,  and  we  will 
keep  steam  up  all  the  time,  and  be  on  a  continual  chase. 

"When  we  are  lying  off  Mobile,  the  rebel  boats 
come  down  and  have  a  look  at  us,  and  we  look  at  them, 
but  there  is  to  be  no  movement  made  towards  the  cap 
ture  of  Mobile  for  the  present.  Galveston  has  fallen 
into  our  hands  without  a  struggle,  and  we  are  gradu 
ally  getting  all  the  forts  on  the  Gulf.  But  Mobile  is 
strongly  fortified,  and  it  will  require  iron-clads  to  accom 
plish  anything  in  this  bay.  I  am  sure  wooden  vessels 
cannot  do  much.  Buchanan  has  command  of  its  naval 
defences,  and  is  building  a  powerful  iron-clad."  * 

"  AUGUST  28,  1862. 

"  I  have  been  on  shore  hunting,  and  shot  two  beeves. 
This  sport  is  rather  dangerous  as  guerillas  are  said  to 
be  plentiful,  but  it  serves  to  vary  our  diet,  and  the  dull 
ness  of  blockade  duty.  There  are  very  severe  gales  off 
this  bay  ;  '  northers  '  they  are  called  ;  some  of  our  block 
ading  vessels  have  been  almost  destroyed  by  them. 
Our  ship  has  escaped  so  far,  but  when  these  gales  do 
come,  they  make  lively  work  for  all  hands. 

"I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  of  Mrs.  Gove's   sad   loss. 

*This  was  the  famous  ram  Tennessee,  which  George  afterward  captured 
with  the  Chickasaw  in  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       109 

Anything  like  that  makes  one  realize  the  horrors  of 
war.  How  dreadful  it  really  is  !  And  what  sorrow 
and  mourning  it  causes  !  Once  I  could  never  have 
imagined  the  awful  destruction  of  property,  and  the 
recklessness  and  wickedness  I  have  lived  to  see. 

"  This  blockading  duty  is  not  very  pleasant  for  an 
impatient  man.  We  do  not  live  very  well,  it  is  so  hard 
to  get  provisions  ;  so  when  I  think  I  can  venture  to  take 
the  risk,  I  go  ashore  hunting,  just  to  get  something  to 
eat." 

"  OFF  MOBILE,  September  5,  1862. 

**  Yesterday  I  went  hunting  after  wild  cattle  and  had 
a  hard  time.  My  party  consisted  of  two  armed  boats' 
crews,  and  when  we  reached  the  shore,  I  sent  two  of 
my  men  ahead  as  scouts  to  look  out  for  guerillas,  and 
then  we  started  for  some  game. 

"  After  hunting  all  the  morning  and  not  seeing  any 
thing,  I  sent  one  boat  off  and  took  the  other  with  a  few 
men  to  go  and  pick  up  the  scouts.  We  pulled  a  long 
way,  but  could  not  find  them,  and  I  was  just  turning 
about,  when  I  saw  a  large  drove  of  cattle  on  shore.  We 
pulled  up  on  the  beach  and  four  of  us  started  to  get  a 
shot  at  them,  but  they  caught  sight  of  us  and  put  for  a 
swamp,  and  in  we  went  after  them.  We  all  separated, 
too,  thinking  our  chances»for  a  shot  would  be  better  ; 
but  after  chasing  an  hour  we  lost  them,  and  ourselves 
as  well  ;  and  not  only  could  we  not  find  each  other,  but 
we  could  not  find  the  boat  ! 

"  We  heard  the  ship  firing  for  our  return,  and  about 
the  same  time  we  discovered  a  rebel  steamer  quite  near 
us,  and  then  we  thought  we  should  certainly  be  found 
and  taken  prisoners.  We  did  not  dare  to  halloo  for 
each  other,  nor  make  any  signal  to  our  vessel,  which 
we  could  hear  firing  for  us  every  few  minutes.  I  knew 
the  Captain  must  have  some  very  good  reason  for  being 


110  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

so  anxious,  and  I  looked  everywhere  about  quietly,  try 
ing  to  find  my  way  ;  but  no  one  was  anywhere  to  be 
seen,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  must  all 
have  been  taken  prisoners.  I  was  bound  that  I  would 
not  be  taken,  so  I  hid  myself  in  the  woods  until  sunset, 
and  then,  after  it  was  dusk,  went  down  to  the  beach 
and  signaled  for  a  boat.  When  the  boat  came  the 
men  said  there  was  great  anxiety  about  us  on  board 
ship,  for  they  felt  sure  the  rebels  had  taken  us  prison 
ers.  As  soon  as  the  boat  and  boat's  crew  came,  I  made 
signals  and  fired  guns,  for  the  three  men  who  had  gone 
after  the  cattle  with  me.  To  my  great  relief  they  soon 
made  their  appearance.  They  had  been  as  badly  scared 
as  I  was,  and  having  come  upon  tracks  of  the  enemy, 
had  concluded  that  I  must  have  been  taken  prisoner, 
and  since  then  they  had  been  hiding  in  the  woods.  Just 
about  this  time  the  boat  that  I  had  left,  to  go  after  the 
cattle,  came  along,  and  the  scouts  turned  up,  and  we 
were  all  safe. 

"  The  men  whom  I  had  left  in  charge  of  the  boat  had 
undertaken  to  beguile  the  time  by  a  sail,  and  getting  to 
leewards  a  strong  breeze  sprang  up,  and  they  could  not 
return  to  land  till  it  went  down.  But  at  last  we  were 
all  right,  and  got  back  to  the  ship  safe  and  sound,  and 
there  was  great  rejoicing  over  our  return.  The  Captain 
had  been  very  anxious  about  our  fate,  for  he  had  seen 
the  steamer  and  feared  the  rebels  on  board  had  seen 
and  taken  us.  How  can  Hammie  or  Frank  beat  this 
for  a  hunting  story? 

"  This  afternoon  we  have  had  some  more  excitement. 
A  large  steamer  made  her  appearance  coming  in  from 
sea  with  the  English  colors  set.  Captain  Preble  of  the 

Oneida,  and  Thornton    of  the   Winona^  blockading  off 
this  place,  saw  her,  and  both  got  under  way,  and  the 

Winona  stood  for  her;   but  Thornton  soon  decided  that 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       I  I  I 

it  must  be  an  English  man-of-war,  and  therefore  stood 
off  after  another  sail,  which  hove  in  sight. 

"Then  what  they  thought  was  an  English  man-of- 
war  came  dashing  up  to  the  Oneida,  near  enough  for 
them  to  see  that  she  carried  five  guns  on  a  side,  and  a 
pivot  gun  forward,  and  as  she  got  abreast  of  the 
Oneida,  Captain  Preble  fired  a  shot  across  her  bows  to 
bring  her  to  ;  he  supposed  she  brought  some  important 
news,  and  he  would  board  her,  as  she  was  within  our 
lines.  But  the  steamer  stood  on,  and  as  soon  as  she 
passed  the  Oneida,  hauled  down  her  English  colors 
and  made  for  the  harbor.  She  was  very  fast,  and  the 
Oneida,  having  but  one  boiler  in  use,  was  unable  to 
catch  her;  so  she  reached  Mobile  in  safety,  and,  no 
doubt,  carried  to  the  rebels  a  valuable  cargo  of  arms. 
It  was  a  smart  thing  on  the  part  of  the  rebel  captain. 

"We  hear   that   Admiral   Farragut  is  to  be  here  the 

loth  of  this  month." 

"  SEPTEMBER  12,  1862. 

"The  Admiral  has  not  come  yet;  but  since  that 
English  steamer  ran  the  blockade  here  our  fleet  has 
been  reinforced.  We  keep  on  the  chase  all  the  time 
after  every  sail  that  appears. 

"  News  comes  that  the  rebels  are  in  force  again  near 
New  Orleans.  I  cannot  understand  why  our  fleet  is 
kept  so  inactive.  A  few  gunboats,  rightly  handled, 
could  have  kept  the  Mississippi  open  from  New 
Orleans  to  Vicksburg  ;  but  instead  of  being  kept  on 
such  duty,  they  have  been  concentrated  at  ports,  while 
the  river  has  been  easily  retaken  by  the  rebels,  and 
there  will  be  more  hard  fighting  there  yet." 

"SEPTEMBER   14,    1862. 

"  We  have  now  seven  gunboats  here.  This  is  get 
ting  to  be  a  rendezvous  for  our  men-of-war;  but  I  do 
not  know  what  they  intend  doing. 


112  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  My  captain  is  so  scary  and  anxious  about  every 
thing,  that  I  cannot  go  hunting  much  ;  but  yesterday  I 
got  ashore  and  shot  two  of  the  wild  cattle  about  the 
swamps,  and  that  helps  out  our  table  a  good  deal. 

"The  only  variety  which  we  get  nowadays,  to  the 
monotonous  duty  of  blockading,  is  the  awful  wind, 
which  blows  a  perfect  gale  here  every  few  days,  just 
at  this  season,  and  which  does  not  make  it  any  more 
agreeable. 

"  I  think  there  is  no  hope  of  any  attack  on  Mobile  at 
present.  Galveston,  as  you  know,  is  in  the  enemy's 
hands  again,  and  Admiral  Farragut  has  sent  two  boats 
to  try  and  retake  it.  This  ship  is  going  to  Pensacola, 
if  it  will  stop  blowing  a  gale  long  enough  for  us  to 
start. 

"  I  have  been  reading  President  Lincoln's  Emanci 
pation  Proclamation,  and  I  like  it  very  much.  I  see 
such  actions  among  the  rebels,  that  I  think  it  high  time 
the  negroes  were  freed,  and  everything  done  to  bring 
them  to  their  senses.  I  believe  without  their  negroes 
they  would  soon  starve  out. 

"I  wish  I  could  have  more  frequent  letters  from 
home.  I  want  to  know  all  about  Roger  and  Ham  and 
Frank.  Is  old  Charley  fat  and  looking  well?" 

"PEXSACOLA,  September  28,  1862. 
"At  last  I  have  received  letters  from  home;  but 
though  they  told  me  many  things  I  wanted  to  know, 
yet  they 'were  quite  old  when  they  readied  me,  and  I 
long  for  later  news.  You  speak  again  of  Mrs.  Gove's 
great  sorrow,  and  I  do  not  wonder  you  feel  sympathy 
for  her.  This  war  is  a  cruel  thing,  and  if  it  continues 
much  longer  there  will  be  hardly  a  family  anywhere 
that  will  not  be  in  mourning.  I  wish  it  would  be  over 
for  one  reason — I  do  so  long  to  get  home.  Home  is 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  113 

always  so  pleasant  to  me,  and  I  love  to  help  make 
it  so. 

"It  is  lucky  we  came  here  just  as  we  did,  for  the 
gunboats  that  came  over  a  few  days  after  us  en 
countered  a  terrible  gale  and  were  much  damaged,  one 
of  them  coming  in  in  a  sinking  condition. 

"  We  have  been  having  a  good  deal  of  fuss  about 
the  iip'ht  between  the  Essex  and  a  rebel  ram.  The 

o 

Essex  fired  some  shots  at  the  ram,  and  her  officers  set 
her  on  fire  and  she  burned  up.  We  were  within  sight  at 
the  time,  but  Captain  Fairfax  did  not  think  it  necessary 
to  participate.  He  is  a  very  anxious  captain,  feeling 
his  responsibility  greatly,  but  he  is  brave  enough.  The 
captain  of  the  Essex,  though,  wishes  to  make  out  that 
he  had  a  desperate  fight  with  the  ram,  and  says  that 
we  were  so  scared  we  ran  away. 

"This,  of  course,  has  made  Captain  Fairfax  indig 
nant,  and  he  has  demanded  a  court  of  inquiry.  I  must 
say  that  although  we  did  not  take  any  part  in  what 
fight  there  was,  yet  the  captain  of  the  Essex  had  no 
right  to  say  what  he  did.  We  shall  return  from  here 
to  the  Mobile  blockade." 

"OFF  MOBILE,  October  4,  1862. 

"I  have  just  got  a  chance  to  send  home  a  line  by 
ship  Island,  and  I  am  going  to  write  something,  though 
my  monotonous  life  does  not  give  me  a  word  worth 
saying,  for  we  cruise  about  everv  day — but  we  see 
nothing. 

"Buchanan  is  hard  at  work  inside  Mobile  harbor, 
and  has  four  very  good  gunboats,  besides  an  iron-clad. 

"I  am  getting  to  be  an  'old'  lieutenant  now,  and 
will  soon  be  ordered  first  lieutenant  of  a  larger  ship 
than  this. 

"News  comes  that  Captain  Preble  has  been  dis- 
8 


114  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

missed    for    letting    that     English     steamer     run    the 
blockade. 

"I  wish  they  would  make  the  attack  here  and  have 
it  over.  I  believe  that  a  few  iron-clads  could  pass 
these  forts  successfully  ;  and  if  we  had  some  iron-clads, 
we  could  dispense  with  this  large  fleet  of  wooden 
vessels. 

<k  Don't  forget  when  you  write  to  tell  me  every  little 
thing — even  the  last  new  thing  Poll  has  learned  to  say. 
The  letters  come  so  irregularly  and  I  have  so  much 
time  to  think  of  home,  that  I  am  always  fancying  some 
thing  happening  there,  and  I  want  to  know  every 
thing." 

"  OCTOBER  12,  1862. 

*'  Since  Captain  Preble's  dismissal,  the  blockade  has 
tried  to  be  very  vigilant,  but  for  all  that  two  large 
steamers  loaded  with  cotton — the  Cuba  and  the 
Alice — ran  through  in  the  night-time  and  got  clear. 
Everybody  is  sorry  for  Captain  Preble,  and  hopes  he 
will  get  back,  for  he  has  been  in  the  navy  all  his  life — 
has  a  family,  and  nothing  but  his  pay. 

*'  The  weather  has  changed  and  is  cold  enough  for 
New  Hampshire,  and  my  fingers  are  so  numb  I  can 
hardly  write.  We  are  lying  now  very  near  Mobile 
Bay — just  beyond  the  range  of  the  forts.  The  rebel 
steamers  come  out  and  have  a  look  at  us,  and  positively 
it  seems  strange  that  they  are  our  enemies.  But  if  I  do 
not  realize  it  now,  probably  I  shall  some  day  ;  perhaps 
before  the  winter  is  over. 

"  We  do  not  get  much  that  is  good  to  eat,  and  fresh 
provisions  come  along  irregularly,  and  only  last  about 

three  days." 

"  OCTOBER  18,  1862. 

"  We  are  now  under  orders  to  go  to  New  Orleans 
where  Captain  Fairfax  will  meet  the  court  of  inquiry 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       115 

he  has  demanded  about  the  affair  between  the  Essex 
and  the  rebel  ram.  I  do  not  like  the  idea  of  being  a 
witness  in  such  matters.  It  makes  me  feel  cross,  too, 
that  our  commodore  does  not  keep  up  the  blockade 
more  strictly.  Two  steamers  and  seven  schooners 
have  run  through  the  last  month,  and  it  is  a  shame.  I 
wonder  if  the  reason  Farragut  does  not  keep  stricter 
discipline  in  the  fleet,  is  because  the  government  does 
not  sustain  his  attempts  heartily? 

**  Do  not  repeat  any  of  my  remarks  on  the  conduct  of 
officers,  or  on  any  naval  matters. 

"  As  soon  as  we  take  Mobile,  all  the  hard  righting 
will  be  over.  If  they  would  only  send  two  or  three 
iron-dads  here,  I  believe  the  place  could  be  taken 
easily,  and  with  small  loss  ;  but  if  we  attempt  it  with 
our  wooden  vessels  we  shall  have  a  hard  time. 

"  Every  now  and  then  I  hear  of  some  friends  of  mine 
being  killed.  Only  the  other  day  Swasey,  first  lieu 
tenant  of  the  Kineo,  was  shot  by  guerillas.  It  makes 
me  impatient  to  have  this  war  over  before  more  valu 
able  lives  are  sacrificed,  and  it  ought  not  to  last  much 
longer.  We  just  lie  here  doing  nothing  but  look  at 
Fort  Morgan,  which  is  about  four  miles  off." 

"NEW  ORLEANS,  November  2,  1862. 

"We  arrived  here  from  Pensacola  and  went  up  the 
river  at  once  to  attack  some  rebel  gunboats,  but  we 
could  not  find  them.  We  went  up  as  far  as  Baton 
Rouge,  but  were  not  molested  by  anything  except  the 
sharpshooters  on  the  levee,  but  we  did  not  lose  any 
men. 

"  I  have  just  received  my  orders  to  report  to  Commo 
dore  Morris  for  duty  as  executive  officer  on  board  the 
Pensacola.  She  is  one  of  the  finest  vessels  in  the  navy, 
carries  a  battery  of  twenty-six  large  guns,  and  has 


Il6      LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

about  four  hundred  men.  It  is  quite  a  promotion  for 
me,  though  I  shall  have  to  work  hard. 

"The  Pcnsacola  will  remain  here  this  winter  to  pro 
tect  the  city,  and  you  must  direct  all  your  letters  here. 
Captain  Fairfax  has  spoken  very  highly  of  me  to  every 
one,  and  he  does  not  want  me  to  leave  him  ;  but  he 
must  soon  make  a  change,  and  this  is  a  good  position 
for  me. 

"There  is  a  good  deal  of  rascality  going  on  in  this 
city.  One  sees  a  great  deal  of  depravity  and  a  total 

disregard  of  all   moral   obligations.      I    do  not  think  the 

&  <-> 

volunteer  officers  conduct  themselves  very  creditably. 
So  far  as  attending  to  their  duty  and  behaving  in  any 
sort  of  a  straightforward,  honorable  manner,  the  navy 
officers  are  way  ahead  ;  at  least,  they  do  not  try  to 
make  money  out  of  the  war,  but  they  live  on  their  small 
salaries  and  try  to  serve  their  country. 

"  XMAS,  1862. 

"  I  stayed  on  board  ship  all  day,  and,  as  I  soon  fell 
to  thinking  about  you  all  at  home,  I  had  quite  a  fit  of 
homesickness.  So  I  am  going  to  begin  a  letter, 
though,  as  usual,  I  have  little  to  write  about  except 
myself. 

"  Commodore  Morris  is  an  old  fellow  and  ranks  next 
to  the  Admiral.  He  lets  me  have  my  own  way  in 
everything,  and  I  have  nothing  to  complain  of;  but 
I  have  a  great  deal  to  do.  Many  of  the  officers  are  a 
great  deal  older  than  I,  and  I 'have  to  appear  dignified 
and  old,  and  often  hard  and  stern.  I  do  not  especially 
like  that.  I  hope  you  are  all  having  a  pleasant  Christ 
mas  at  home  to-day." 

"  DECEMBER  28,  1862. 

"  I  am  feeling  very  sadly  about  the'death  of  Blodgett, 
my  dear  old  friend  and  classmate.  The  news  has  just 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       117 

come.  He  was  one  of  the  finest  young  officers  in  the 
navy,  and  was  full  of  noble  qualities.  He  has  been  in 
command  of  one  of  Porter's  fleet  up  the  river,  and  in 
some  way  caught  a  fever  and  died  of  it.  I  mourn  him 
very  much. 

"  Lieutenant  Terry  of  the  Richmond,  who  is  another 
dear  friend  of  mine,  is  in  very  poor  health  from  expos 
ure  and  the  effects  of  the  climate.  He  is  in  port  just 
now,  and  is  much  company  for  me.  I  wish  you  knew 
him,  for  he  is  a  fine  fellow,  and  you  could  not  help 
liking  him." 

"JANUARY   12,    1863. 

"A  request  for  assistance  has  come  from  the  boats  up 
the  river.  Just  think  !  At  one  time  we  held  four  hun 
dred  miles  above  this  city,  and  now  we  only  hold  one 
hundred  and  thirty,  and  we  shall  have  a  hard  fight  to 
keep  that. 

"  I  cannot  help  wishing  I  could  have  taken  this  ship 
into  action.  My  place  now  is  not  a  very  dangerous  one, 
unless  they  biow  up  the  ship  with  torpedoes.  They 
tried  it  once,  but  did  not  succeed.  There  is  a  large 
fleet  here  now,  and  all  hands  are  having  a  good  time. 
I  should  think  we  had  better  be  put  at  work  bringing 
this  war  to  an  end.  It  is  not  the  Admiral's  fault.  They 
keep  him  in  check  at  the  department,  otherwise  he 
would  have  had  Mobile  and  all  the  Mississippi  River 
by  this  time." 

"JANUARY   l8,    1863. 

"We  have  been  very  unfortunate  in  the  Gulf  lately. 
Lost  Galveston,  and  lost  some  of  our  finest  officers  at 
Berwick's  Bay.  Buchanan  was  buried  here  to-day, 
and  I  have  just  come  from  his  funeral,  which  was  a  very 
large  one.  He  was  beloved  by  everybody.  The  killing 
of  Lieutenant  Lea  on  the  Harriet  Lane  was  a  very  dis- 


Il8  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

tressing  affair.  A  letter  from  him  came  to  me  two  days 
after  he  was  shot.  His  father  was  a  major  in  the  rebel 
army,  and  was  in  the  engagement  in  which  his  son 
was  killed.  And  now  comes  the  news  of  the  sinking 
of  the  Hatteras  by  the  Alabama,  which  is  another  sad 
affair.  All  of  her  officers  are  either  killed,  made  pris 
oners,  or  sunk  with  the  vessel.  Things  look  very 
shaky,  and  there  seems  no  head  nor  tail  either  in  the 
army  or  navy.  Spies  here  come  and  go  at  will,  and 
the  chief  and  worst  ones  are  ladies  of  the  best  families. 
They  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  ask  permission 
to  pass  our  lines  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  few  sup 
plies  for  their  children,  who,  they  say,  are  starving; 
but  when  once  through,  they  get  everything  thev  can 
sew  up  in  their  skirts — quinine  and  everything  else — 
and  their  supply  comes  from  our  army  stores.  They 
get  it,  no  matter  if  it  is  contraband  of  war.  One  lady 
boasted  that  she  wanted  nothing  more  within  our  lines  ; 
that  she  had  carried  through  over  two  hundred  ounces 
of  quinine  within  the  last  week. 

"  Mrs.  General  Dudley  is  a  very  pleasant  lady, 
whose  husband  is  stationed  here,  and  I  have  enjoye-d 
seeing  her  very  much  during  the  holidays.  She  knows 
Mrs.  Gove  very  well  and  has  visited  her  in  Concord, 
and  that  gives  us  something  to  talk  about.  Still  I  do 
not  enjoy  going  about  much,  for  I  get  quite  stirred  up 
and  out  of  temper  at  the  irritating  and  annoying  things 
which  I  know  the  rebels  are  doing,  and  which  a  little 
energy  on  our  part  might  put  a  stop  to». 

"The  Alabama  is  hanging  around,  picking  off  our 
merchant  ships  and  those  that  are  laden  with  govern 
ment  stores,  but  she  gets  safely  off  by  the  time  any  of 
our  ships  are  sent  after  her.  I  feel  about  it  in  such  a 
way  that  if  I  am  invited  anywhere  I  either  decline  or 
go  in  my  uniform,  for  that  is  a  protection  against 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  119 

remarks  of  a  political  character.  It  is  '  fashionable  T 
among  the  gay  people  here  to  be  *  secesh,'  and  talk  of 
that  sort  is  not  agreeable  to  a  Northern  officer  ;  but  I 
receive  such  a  number  of  invitations  that  I  should  think 
I  must  be  invited  to  everything  and  everywhere. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  learn  from  your  last  letter  that  Mrs. 
Jewell  has  lost  her  little  daughter.  I  can  remember 
what  a  pretty  child  she  was  and  how  much  her  mother 
was  wrapt  up  in  her,  and  I  am  very  sorry  for  her.  I 
feel  sad  and  sober  myself  all  the  time,  for  since  so 
many  of  my  friends  have  been  killed  in  this  war,  and 
I  have  seen  so  much  cruelty  and  treachery  among  the 
rebels,  I  get  very  bitter  in  my  feelings. 

"Think  how  many  noble  young  lives  and  beautiful 
characters  have  been  sacrificed  to  their  vanity  and 
wickedness  and  miserable  ambition  !  Many  of  their 
actions  that  I  know  of  are  enough  to  destroy  all  mercy 
in  any  human  heart,  and  I  sometimes  long  to  be  in  bat 
tle,  and  I  feel  that  every  shot  fired  from  this  ship  will 
be  aimed  with  a  good  will  and  an  earnest  desire  to 
slaughter  them  and  remove  such  creatures  from  the 
earth. 

"  I  dare  sav  this  may  sound  bloodthirsty,  but  there 
'are  times  when  I  cannot  help  such  feelings,  after  what 
I  see  and  know  of  things  the  rebels  are  continually 
doing.  I  feel  more  than  willing  to  fight  and  lose  my 
life  if  it  will  only  bring  this  war  to  an  end.  I  do  not 
fear  death,  and  if  it  were  not  for  you  at  home  and  the 
thought  that  my  life  is  and  will  be  something  to  you, 
I  should  positively  rather  die  if  it  would  secure  the 
success  of  the  cause,  for  which  I  am  fighting.  I  feel 
pretty  sure  now  that  I  shall  not  be  found  wanting  in 
readiness  to  take  the  fortunes  of  war. 

"  As  you  like  to  know  all  the  compliments  that  are 
paid  me,  I  will  tell  you  one  that  I  had  the  other  day 


120      LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

from  General  Weitzel.  He  wants  me  to  take  command 
of  a  fleet  of  gunboats  in  Berwick  Bay.  He  is  getting 
up  an  expedition  of  ten  thousand  men  and  a  fleet  of 
gunboats  to  go  up  through  the  bayous  into  Red  River, 
and  he  wants  me  to  take  command  of  the  naval  force. 
He  said  to  me, — '  Perkins,  you  are  the  only  man  that  I 
know  of  fitted  to  go  through  the  desperate  fighting  we 
shall  have;  but  with  you  in  command  of  those  gunboats 
and  me  with  my  troops,  we  can  face  the  devil,  and  are 
bound  to  win.  But  unless  you  will  go  with  me,  I  have 
my  doubts  about  succeeding,  and  I  shall  think  twice 
before  I  go.' 

"We  are  soon  to  have  a  fight  at  Port  Hudson,  and 
the  Pensacola  is  to  form  part  of  the  attacking  fleet,  and 
if  I  come  out  of  that  all  right,  I  shall  certainly  go  with 
Weitzel ;  but  Commodore  Morris  wants  me  to  stay  with 
him  for  the  present,  and  he  has  been  so  kind  to  me,  I 
shall  do  what  I  can  to  please  him. 

"  A  rebel  quartermaster  has  just  been  caught  with  a 
list  of  the  articles  he  intended  to  purchase  within  our 
lines  of  our  sutlers,  though  to  be  sure  he  had  taken  the 
oath  of  allegiance  !  He  will  probably  be  imprisoned  a 
few  days  and  then  let  out,  when  he  will  at  once  go  back 
to  the  same  rascally  business,  and  we  shall  go  on 
furnishing  the  rebel  army  and  people  with  food  and 
medicines.  It  makes  me  fairly  vexed  and  unhappy  to 
see  the  United  States  and  its  government  and  its  soldiers, 
so  scoffed  and  cheated  and  jeered  at  by  the  rebels. 

"  But  I  will  not  say  any  more  now  about  the  war,  for 
it  does  no  good,  and  I  had  much  better  turn  to  a  pleas- 
anter  subject,  which  is  yourself,  dear  mother.  I  have 
been  hearing  some  very  complimentary  things  about 
your  beauty  and  charms,  in  your  youth.  A  few  days 
ago  I  was  invited  to  a  dinner  party  given  to  General 
Dudley  and  his  wife  by  a  Mr.  Malony.  After  the  din- 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       121 

ner,  which  was  a  very  good  one,  he  asked  me  if  I  was 
the  son  of  Hamilton  Perkins  of  Hopkinton.  When  I 
told  him  I  was,  he  said,  'Your  father  married  Clara 
George,  the  belle  of  New  England!'  Then  he  went 
on  to  tell  me  all  about  you  in  your  younger  days,  and 
what  '  wonderful  sparkling  black  eyes  '  you  had,  etc. 
He  talked  about  your  father  and  about  Uncle  Paul  and 
Uncle  John,  and  old  times  in  Concord  generally,  for 
nearly  three  hours,  and  I  never  was  better  entertained. 
My  next  gayety  is  to  be  a  party  up  the  river.  We  are 
going  to  visit  a  large  sugar  plantation  which  has  quite 
a  reputation  ;  but  that  will  wind  up  my  visiting,  as  I 
ought  not  to  leave  the  ship  much,  for  Commodore 
Morris  is  growing  more  feeble,  and  I  do  not  believe  he 
can  hold  out  much  longer.  I  hope  the  captain  who 
takes  his  place  will  be  as  line  an  officer  and  gentleman 
as  lie  is. 

"  It  would  do  you  good  to  see  the  Pensacola  now. 
She  is  one  of  the  finest  ships  in  the  navy,  and  by  having 
my  own  way,  I  have  got  her  in  splendid  order,  and  the 

crew  perfectly  drilled." 

"  MARCH  i,  1863. 

"The  other  morning  I  received  orders  from  the 
Admiral  to  take  command  of  the  Cayuga  and  go  to 
Galveston  to  assist  in  retaking  it.  I  was  delighted  with 
the  orders,  for  I  hate  to  lie  here  inactive,  and  I  made 
all  haste  to  be  off  to  her;  but  when  the  mail  steamer 
arrived,  whom  should  it  bring  but  Captain  McDerrit, 
who  had  been  ordered  at  the  department  to  relieve 
Captain  Fairfax  as  her  commander,  and  my  hopes  are 
dashed. 

"  My  chief  source  of  happiness,  in  being  stationed 
at  New  Orleans,  is  the  regularity  with  which  I  get  letters 
from  home,  they  are  such  a  comfort  to  me. 

"The   attack  on    Port   Hudson  is   given   up  for  the 


122  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

present.  The  enemy  have  concentrated  such  a  large 
force  there  that  any  fight  would  be  attended  with  great 
loss,  and  we  should  run  a  great  risk  of  getting  whipped. 
This  city  is  threatened  too,  and  the  rebels  are  in  high 
glee.  If  the  first  conquests  up  the  river,  after  the 
taking  of  New  Orleans,  had  been  sustained  by  our 
government,  all  the  blood  which  has  since  been  shed, 
and  all  that  must  flow  to  recapture  it,  might  have  been 
saved." 


THE  FLEET  PASSING  FORTS  JACKSON  AND  ST.  PHILIP. 

"  NEW  ORLEANS,  April  21,  1863. 

"I  spent  last  evening  with  a  Mrs.  Kimball,  a  very 
agreeable  woman,  and  a  great  friend  of  Mrs.  James 
Thornton's,  who  lived  in  Concord  at  one  time.  That 
made  her  seem  a  little  nearer  something  at  home  than 
other  people. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       I2J 

"  I  have  sent  to  Frank  by  the  last  steamer  two  guns. 
The  six-pounder  is  a  fine  gun,  and  was  captured  after  a 
desperate  fight.  The  other  is  a  rifle  gun,  and  is  quite 
a  curiosity  ;  it  will  throw  a  ball  a  long  way. 

"  The  Naval  Register  states  that  I  have  been  a  lieu 
tenant  commander  since  December  13,  1862,  but  I 
have  not  received  any  notification  of  it  from  the  depart 
ment. 

"Money  is  being  made  out  here,  hand  over  hand,, 
much  of  it  in  a  dishonest  way.  It  makes  me  mad  and 
sad  at  the  same  time  to  see  these  rascally  quartermasters 
lying  back  in  luxury,  and  never  being  exposed  to 
danger,  while  those  who  do  all  the  hard  work  and  fight 
ing,  and  endure  all  the  discomforts  of  the  war,  get 
neither  honor  nor  money. 

"  Photographs  have  come  out  of  our  ships  passing 
Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  and  I  have  enclosed  you 
one.  Please  keep  it. 

"  I  hear  now  that  I  am  ordered  to  take  command  of 
the  Berwick  Bay  fleet  with  the  steamer  Arizona  for  my 
vessel.  She  is  much  larger  than  the  Caynga,  and  of  a 
different  class  of  ships,  and  it  will  be  a  high  promotion 
for  me.  I  hardly  think,  though,  that  the  chief  officers 
feel  ambition  enough  to  organize  the  expedition." 

"  JUNE  4,  1863. 

"  Well,  Berwick  Bay  has  been  captured  by  the  rebels 
since  I  sent  my  last — just  as  we  were  beginning  to  think 
about  defending  it.  Our  soldiers  are  discouraged,  and 
twelve  hundred  of  them  surrendered  to  six  hundred  of 
the  enemy.  All  the  senior  officers  were  away  '  specu 
lating,'  probably,  which  is  a  mild  term  for  it,  and  there 
was  nobody  in  command  but  a  major,  and  he  was  badly 
scared.  Our  fine  new  guns  are  being  captured  by  the 
rebels,  and  the  day  after  they  are  taken  they  will  be 


124  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

mounted  on  the  levee  and  trained  on  us.  It  is  too  dis 
graceful  !  I  am  now  offered  the  command  of  the 
steamer  Tennessee;  she  is  a  tine  ship,  but  I  cannot  yet 
decide." 

The  last  of  June,  1863,  General  Banks,  who  was  then 
in  command  of  the  forces  besieging  Port  Hudson,  sent 
word  to  Admiral  Farragut  that  he  must  have  more  pow 
der,  or  the  siege  could  not  be  prosecuted.  The  Admiral 
therefore  ordered  the  gunboat  New  London  to  be  de 
tailed  to  carry  powder  to  our  forces  ;  and  as  her  regular 
captain  had  not  arrived,  he  gave  the  command  to 
George.  It  was  very  dangerous  duty,  as  there  were 
batteries  all  the  way,  including  a  very  powerful  one  at 
Whitehall's  Point,  and  the  explosive  nature  of  the  New 
London's  cargo  put  her  at  the  mercy  even  of  a  sharp 
shooter.  George's  first  trip  is  described  in  a  letter 
dated 

"JuLY  4,   1863. 

"  I  am  on  my  way  down  the  river,  and  shall  soon  be 
in  New  Orleans.  I  have  taken  command  of  this  vessel 
until  her  captain  comes  from  Mobile  ;  but  after  that  I 
•expect  to  go  back  to  the  Pensacola.  My  duty  is  to 
•convey  powder  to  Banks's  army.  I  left  New  Orleans  in 
the  evening,  convoying  the  steamer  North  America  as 
far  as  Donaldsonville.  The  river  is  now  in  possession 
of  the  rebels,  and  they  fire  on  all  our  vessels  and 
destroy  our  transports.  I  have  been  up  all  night,  and 
have  had  a  hard  and  lively  time.  Within  two  miles  of 
Donaldsonville  a  rebel  battery  opened  on  us  with  artil 
lery  and  sharpshooters.  We  were  struck  several  times 
and  had  quite  a  spirited  engagement.  I  got  the  North 
America  by  all  right,  with  only  four  shots  through  her, 
and  then  leaving  her  at  Donaldsonville  I  returned  to 
the  scene  of  action,  and  kept  it  up  till  they  stopped  fir- 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       125 

ing.  On  my  way  down  I  trained  my  guns  on  every 
thing  I  could  see,  as  I  was  determined  to  make  them 
pay  dear  for  their  whistle  this  time  ;  but  the  levee  is  so 
high  that  one  is  not  able  to  see  anything  behind  it,  and 
the  rebels  mass  their  sharpshooters  at  different  points 
and  tire  into  our  gunboats  when  they  pass  ;  and, 
although  we  blaze  away  back,  we  do  not  get  a  fair 
revenge.  In  fact,  the  rebels  are  now  doing  pretty 
much  as  they  please  everywhere.  They  go  and  come, 
freely,  in  and  out  of  New  Orleans,  and  all  our  affairs 
are  in  a  confused  and  disorganized  state." 

4  k  JULY  29,  1863. 

"  Since  I  wrote  you  last  I  have  been  through  more 
excitement,  and  it  seems  to  me  as  if  I  had  been  in  more 
danger,  than  ever  before  in  my  life  :  and  I  am  going  to 
try  and  describe  to  you  my  last  trip  in  \\\e  New  London* 
"  I  had  passed  the  Whitehall  Point  batteries  in  her 
successfully  five  times,  but  on  the  sixth  trip,  when  the 
New  London  was  returning  to  New  Orleans,  just  as 
she  was  passing  those  batteries,  at  about  quarter  past 
one,  on  the  morning  of  the  2Oth  of  July,  the  enemy  dis 
covered  her,  and  opened  with  artillery  and  sharpshoot 
ers.  One  shot  struck  the  New  London 's  boiler,  which 
exploded,  severely  scalding  six  men,  and  another  shot 
penetrated  the  steam  drum.  This  disabled  the  vessel, 
and  I  ordered  her  to  be  run  towards  the  eastern  bank, 
but  the  escaping  steam  made  it  impossible  for  the 
helmsman  to  remain  at  the  wheel,  and  the  ship 
grounded  within  range  of  the  battery.  The  gunboat 
Winona.,  which  had  been  ordered  to  escort  the  New 
London  past  Whitehall  Point,  ran  away  at  the  first 
shot,  and  was  out  of  sight  by  this  time.  I  fired 
rockets  to  inform  her  of  my  danger  and  to  summon  her 
to  my  assistance,  but  received  no  response. 


126  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"We  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  sharpshooters,  and 
every  shot  dealt  death  and  destruction.  My  first  lieu 
tenant  was  shot  through  the  head,  and  the  men  now 
became  so  terrified  that  they  began  to  leap  overboard. 
I  then  ordered  a  boat  to  be  manned  and  kedged  off' the 
ship  astern,  till  she  drifted  down  stream  out  of  the  way 
of  the  upper  battery.  But  the  most  powerful  fortifica 
tion  of  the  battery  was  still  below  us  ;  so  I  towed  the 
ship  to  the  eastern  bank  and  made  her  fast ;  but  danger 
pursued  me  here,  and  it  was  soon  plain  that  I  had  only 
gained  a  respite  from  the  murderous  fire,  for  I  could 
see  the  enemy  cutting  embrasures  to  move  their  guns 
down  for  a  better  range,  and  I  knew  that  daylight 
would  seal  the  fate  of  my  ship  and  crew. 

"I  determined  to  save  them  if  I  could.  I  sent  the 
ship's  company  ashore  under  the  protection  of  the  levee, 
where  they  could  use  their  muskets  to  repel  an  attack, 
and  stationed  pickets  along  the  road.  I  then  despatched 
messengers  by  land  to  Donaldsonville,  where  General 
Weitzel  was,  for  assistance,  and  sent  a  boat  by  the  river 
to  the  Monongahela  and  Essex  with  the  same  request. 
These  two  ships  were  stationed  some  miles  below  on 
the  river  to  protect  an  encampment  of  our  troops  on  the 
eastern  bank. 

"The  messengers  returned  from  Donaldsonville  say 
ing  no  assistance  could  be  rendered  ;  while,  with  regard 
to  the  success  of  those  I  sent  by  the  river  I  felt  very 
doubtful,  so  much  was  the  passage  of  the  Whitehall 
Point  batteries  dreaded.  Just  at  this  time  information 
was  brought  me  that  a  force  of  rebel  cavalry — five  hun 
dred  strong — was  only  a  few  miles  in  the  interior.  I 
felt  desperate,  for  I  realized  the  whole  peril  of  the  situa 
tion,  and  I  was  determined  that  my  ship  and  crew  should 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  I  resolved  to  fol 
low  the  dictates  of  my  own  judgment.  I  knew  that  upon 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       I2/ 

a  personal  application  Weitzel  would  at  once  grant  me 
anything  I  wanted.  I  went  ashore,  and  capturing  a 
horse  that  was  tied  to  a  fence,  I  rode  back  to  Donald- 
sonville.  Arrived  opposite,  I  signaled  to  the  Princess 
Royal  to  send  a  boat  for  me,  and,  to  save  time,  I  first 
demanded  assistance  from  her  senior  officer  ;  this  he 
thought  fit  to  refuse. 

"The  Princess  Royal  was  one  of  our  gunboats  sta 
tioned  at  Donaldsonville  to  protect  and  help  Weitzel. 
I  immediately  hastened  to  him,  and  without  delay  he 
started  a  body  of  troops  down  the  river  for  my  assist 
ance.  But  when  I  returned  to  the  spot  where  I  had  left 
the  J\Tew  London  I  found  her  gone,  and  I  concluded — 
rightly,  as  it  afterwards  proved — that  the  boat  I  had 
sent  early  in  the  morning  had  succeeded  in  reaching 
our  ships,  and  that  they  had  come  up  and  taken  her  off. 
I  found  afterwards  that  it  was  the  iron-clad  Essex ^  and 
it  towed  her  directly  to  New  Orleans. 

"This  was  a  great  relief  to  me,  for  now  the  lives  of 
my  men  were  safe,  and  the  ship  was  still  under  its  own 
flag  ;  but  I  began  to  realize  that  my  own  position  wras 
now  one  of  considerable  danger.  I  fastened  the  horse 
I  had  so  unceremoniously  borrowed  to  the  spot  I  first 
found  him,  and  then  hired  a  negro  to  drive  me,  in  any 
sort  of  vehicle  he  could  get,  down  the  levee  road  to  our 
lines.  This  proved  to  be  a  carryall  harnessed  to  a 
mule  ;  but  it  was  the  best  he  could  do.  I  took  the  back 
seat,  and  laid  my  loaded  pistols  by  my  side  close  under 
my  hand.  At  the  negro's  earnest  entreaty  I  put  on  my 
uniform  coat  wrong  side  out,  that  it  might  not  attract 
attention,  and  so  I  started — a  Union  officer,  miles  from 
our  troops — on  my  passage  through  the  enemy's  coun 
try,  along  a  road  where  rebel  troops,  bands  of  guerillas, 
and  sharpshooters  were  usually  in  constant  movement. 
Yet  by  some  rare  fortune  it  happened,  just  at  this  time, 


128  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

that  my  chief  danger — except  the  overhanging  peril  of 
the  whole  situation — was  not  incurred  until  I  approached 
our  lines,  except  that  around  a  grocery  shop  which  I 
passed  there  were  lounging  a  group  of  armed  rebels. 
My  driver  was  terribly  frightened  at  this,  and  kept  say 
ing,  '  Set  back,  massa,  for  God's  sake,  set  back  !  Mebbe 
dey  won't  see  you  ! '  And  then  whipped  up  his  mule 
till  we  were  safe  beyond  their  reach. 

**  But  I  had  been  seen  and  suspected  by  the  rebel 
troops  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  they  had  sent 
a  boat  and  some  soldiers  across  to  capture  me.  They 
reached  the  bank  on  my  side,  landed,  and  came  up  the 
road  to  intercept  me  just  as  I  was  nearing  our  lines. 
Fortunately  all  this  was  perceived  by  our  troops,  and  a 
body  of  cavalry  was  sent  out,  which  captured  the  rebels 
and  conducted  me  in  safety  to  the  camp  by  one  and  the 
same  proceeding.  Here  I  found  one  of  our  ships — the 
Monoiigahela — and  I  went  on  board  of  her  in  a  per 
fectly  exhausted  condition.  Flinging  myself  in  a  bunk 
I  slept  soundly  for  hours,  undisturbed  by  the  fact  that 
a  short  time  before,  while  lying  in  that  very  same 
place,  the  captain  of  the  Monongahela — Abner  Read- 
had  been  killed  by  a  rebel  shot  which  penetrated  the 
ship's  side  and  struck  him,  and  that  his  dead  body  was 
then  on  board,  being  conveyed  to  New  Orleans. 

"I  roused  myself  very  early  next  morning  in  order 
to  continue  my  journey  to  New  Orleans  in  a  commis- 
sarv  wagon,  but  when  daylight  dawned  I  saw  a  gun 
boat  coming  down  the  river  in  command  of  my  friend 
Captain  Cooke,  and  I  went  on  board  of  her  and  made 
the  rest  ot  my  trip  by  water." 

George  alwavs  regarded  his  escape  during  this  trip 
as  little  short  of  a  miracle.  Soon  after  an  army  officer, 
with  a  heavy  escort  of  cavalry,  went  over  the  same 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      129 

road  which  George  traversed  alone,  and  this  officer  was 
lauded  to  the  skies  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day  for  his 
"display  of  reckless  daring." 

Arrived  in*  New  Orleans,  George  reported  to  Farra- 
gut,  who,  although  not  wholly  endorsing  his  course, 
complimented  him  in  conversation  on  his  bravery,  and 
promised  to  give  him  the  best  command  that  was 
vacant.  I  copy  the  official  papers  connected  with  this 
affair  : 

"  SIR  :  You  will,  upon  the  reporting  of  Lieutenant 
Commander  Potter,  deliver  over  the  command  of  the 
New  London  to  that  officer,  and  consider  yourself 
detached  from  that  vessel.  You  will  then  report  to 
Commodore  Morris  for  duty  on  board  the  U.  S.  S. 
Pensacola.  I  regret  this  necessity,  but  seniority  must 
have  its  precedence,  and  it  is  for  no  misconduct  that 
you  are  relieved.  I  am  satisfied  that  you  acted  to  the 
best  of  your  judgment  in  the  case  of  the  disabling  of 
the  New  London. 

"  Respectfully, 
"  D.  G.  FARRAGUT,  Rear  Admiral. 

"  Lieutenant  Commander, 

"GEORGE  H.  PERKINS." 

Admiral  Farragut  endorsed  his  report  to  the  depart 
ment  as  follows  : 

"  Lieutenant  Commander  Perkins  was  temporarily 
in  command  of  the  New  London,  and  was  sent  up  the 
river.  His  conduct  was  represented  as  cool.  He  made 
every  disposition  of  his  men  and  managed  his  vessel 
with  ability  ;  but  although  he  procured  the  assistance 
he  sought,  I  informed  him  the  principle  was  wrong  ; 
but  it  could  be  looked  upon  only  as  an  error  of  judg 
ment." 

9 


130       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

George,  however,  refuses  to  believe  that  the  circum 
stances  did  not  warrant  his  action,  as,  after  sending  for 
help  and  doing  all  that  was  possible,  there  was  no  way 
remaining  by  which  his  vessel  and  the  lives  of  his  men 
could  be  saved  but  the  one  he  chose.  He  also  consid 
ers  his  experience  in  connection  with  the  Neiv  London 
as  the  most  perilous  of  any  in  all  his  varied  and  adven 
turous  life,  and  asserts  that  he  was  more  helpless  against 
the  surrounding  dangers  there  than  even  at  the  battles 
of  New  Orleans  and  Mobile.  To  return  to  his  letters  : 

"  NEW  ORLEANS,  July  31,  1863. 

"  The  Admiral  has  given  me  command  of  the  Sciota. 
She  is  a  fine  gunboat  and  a  good  command  for  me.  He 
promised  me  a  good  command  when  I  was  relieved 
from  the  New  London,  and  he  has  kept  his  word. 
Commodore  Morris  left  the  Pcnsacola  this  afternoon. 
The  old  gentleman  felt  very  sad,  and  so  did  we,  for  we 
all  loved  him  very  much.  He  was  so  feeble  that  he 
had  to  be  lowered  over  the  side  in  a  chair,  and  I  am 
afraid  he  will  not  live  to  get  home. 

"  The  Sciota  will  lie  off  this  city  about  a  month.  She 
is  a  regular  naval  gunboat,  and  carries  four  twenty-four 
pound  howitzers,  one  eleven-inch  gun,  and  one  Parrott 
gun,  and  her  officers  and  crew  number  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  men,  all  told. 

"  Tell  Uncle  Paul  that  I  am  the  youngest  officer  at 
this  time  that  has  such  a  command.  I  expect  my  des 
tination  is  to  be  blockade  duty  somewhere  ofFGalves- 
ton,  Texas." 

George's  blockading  experiences,  which  continued 
for  the  next  eight  months,  proved,  as  a  general  thing, 
very  quiet,  and  it  gave  his  thoughts  more  time  than 
usual  to  dwell  on  his  home.  Its  interests  are  again  his 
constant  theme  and  the  occupations  and  prospects  of 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       131 

all  his  family.  Many  fathers  are  not  so  anxious  about 
their  sons  as  was  George  at  this  time  for  his  younger 
brothers.  All  his  letters  were  full  of  plans  for  them 
and  advice  to  them.  After  his  long  absence  and  widely 
differing  occupation,  the  clearness  and  intensity  with 
which  he  enters  into  home  matters  is  remarkable. 

The  brother  who  was  next  to  George  in  years — Roger 
Eliot — had,  when  quite  young,  gone  into  business  with 
a  relative  in  Cincinnati,  but  about  the  second  year  of 
the  war,  the  elder  member  of  the  firm  being  obliged  to 
discontinue  business  on  account  of  his  health,  this  was 
given  up,  and  Roger  returned  home.  He  intended  in 
some  way  to  identify  himself  with  the  war  in  its  prog 
ress,  but  George  was  so  unwilling  that  he  should  put 
himself  in  any  position  where  his  life  would  be  endan 
gered  or  his  future  prospects  unsettled,  that  Roger 
finally  decided  to  study  medicine,  a  plan  which  met 
with  George's  cordial  approbation.  In  this  same  year 
of  1863,  the  next  younger  brother — Hamilton — was 
appointed  to  the  naval  academy,  an  appointment  which 
gratified  the  dearest  wish  of  his  heart.  The  youngest 
brother — Frank — was  now  about  fifteen  years  of  age, 
very  promising  in  every  way,  and  George  would  plan 
that  this  one  should  be  the  "  home  boy,  going  into  busi 
ness  in  Concord  to  be  near  the  family." 

It  is  sad  and  touching  now  to  read  George's  letters  of 
those  days,  with  their  eager  hopes  and  plans.  Two 
of  the  brothers,  about  whose  future  he  was  so  earnest, 
passed  in  the  brightness  and  freshness  of  their  youth 
beyond  all  earthly  joys  and  fears — God  made  their 
future  safe  by  taking  them  to  himself. 

Roger,  alter  going  through  the  proper  course,  gradu 
ated  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  and  late  in  the 
autumn  of  1866  went  to  St.  Louis  to  establish  himself; 
but  falling  a  victim  to  the  typhoid  fever,  which  raged 


132  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

there  that  winter,  died,  away  from  home,  February  6, 
1867,  aged  twenty-six.  Just  six  months  before,  Frank 
died  at  home,  after  a  short  and  sudden  illness,  June  25, 
1866,  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 

The  following  passage  from  one  of  George's  letters 
gives  a  pretty  good  summary  of  his  life  during  the 
winter  of  1863  and  1864  : 

"I  do  nothing  but  read  and  build  castles  in  the  air, 
for  no  sails  appear  within  the  lines  of  coast  allotted  to 
me.  Once  in  three  weeks  the  steamer  comes  along 
with  our  letters  and  provisions — fresh  meat,  potatoes, 
and  onions.  Once  or  twice  I  have  ventured  on  shore, 
but  it  is  very  risky,  and  the  last  time  I  was  so  nearly 
captured  that  it  is  a  wonder  now  that  I  am  not  either 
shot  or  a  prisoner  of  war.  I  would  go  ashore,  just  for 
a  change,  and,  being  unknown,  would  venture  into  the 
towns  and  villages,  buying  something  at  the  stores  and 
looking  about  a  little,  and  even  made  some  friends  who 
did  not  know  my  name;  but  the  last  time  that  I  tried 
this  a  man  said  to  me,  '  I  know  you  ;  you  are  the 
captain  of  that  Yankee  gunboat  that  blockades  off 
here.'  Some  one  with  whom  I  had  been  sociable  con 
tradicted  him.  A  crowd  began  to  gather,  and  while 
they  were  disputing  who  I  was,  I  hurried  to  my  boat, 
hidden  in  a  cove,  but  not  before  they  had  started  in 
pursuit  of  me  and  got  pretty  close,  too.  I  was  well 
frightened,  for  if  I  had  not  got  away,  it  would  have 
been  an  awful  scrape,  even  if  my  life  had  been  saved. 

"  We  have  had  a  steady  gale  of  wind  which  has 
blown  for  weeks  without  cessation,  and  the  ship  has 
done  nothing  but  roll,  roll,  roll,  all  the  time,  and  we 
are  perfectly  tired  out." 

"APRIL  5,  1864. 
"I  caught  a   prize  last  night.     It  was  the  schooner 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  133 

Mary  Sorley,  loaded  with  cotton.  She  was  formerly 
the  U.  S.  revenue  cutter  here,  and  \vas  loaded  vu1,h 
two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  bales  of  cotton.  I  have 
sent  her  to  New  Orleans  to  be  adjudicated,  and  if  she 
arrives  there  all  safe,  she  will  be  sold,  and  bring  me  in 
a  nice  little  sum  of  money  ;  and  you  must  look  out  for 
it  if  anything  happens  to  me.  A  good  many  officers 
have  made  prize-money  during  the  war,  but  I  have  not 
had  any  luck  before  this.  I  am  going  now  to  lie  oft' 
Brazos.  The  forts  there  are  old  friends  of  mine  ;  we 
are  everlastingly  peppering  each  other,  but  so  far  with 
no  results." 

"OFF  SABINE  PASS,  TEXAS,  June  12,  1864. 

"  The  Circassian  to-dav  brought  me  only  one  letter 
from  my  home,  and  did  not  bring  me  my  relief.  He 
has  been  ordered  some  time,  and  I  fully  expected  him 
in  this  steamer.  I  find  waiting  for  him  a  very  tanta 
lizing  business,  and  I  fall  back  on  thinking  that  what 
ever  happens,  I  certainly  shall  not  be  left  here  all 
summer. 

"Just  think  how  long\\.\s  since  I  have  been  at  home, 
and  what  changes  there  have  been  !  Aunt  Anne  dead, 
and  now  Uncle  Paul,  both  of  whom  have  been  so  much 
a  part  of  our  lives.  They  were  always  so  kind  to  me, 
and  so  interested  in  me,  I  shall  miss  them  very  much. 
It  seems  like  a  living  death  to  be  on  the  blockade. 
When  the  Circassian,  which  is  here  now,  goes,  it  will 
be  twenty  days  before  we  see  another  sail.  We  get  all 
talked  out  on  board  ship,  and  sometimes  a  week  passes 
and  I  do  not  speak  a  word,  except  those  which  my 
duty  requires.  There  is  very  little  variety  on  my 
blockade,  though  it  is  quite  an  extensive  one,  stretch 
ing  from  Port  Cavallo  to  Sabine  Pass,  and  now  it  is 
past  time  for  my  relief  to  come  and  I  feel  very  impa 
tient. 


134       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"One  would  think  I  might  grow  fat  leading  such  a 
quiet  life,  but  I  stick  at  the  old  notch  where  I  have  been 
for  rive  years,  and  only  weigh  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
pounds." 

George's  relief,  which  was  ordered  the  2Oth  of  April, 
did  not  reach  him  till  the  last  of  June.  George  was 
given  leave  of  absence,  but  on  arriving  at  New  Orleans, 
intending  to  take  the  first  steamer  for  the  North,  he 
found  preparations  going  on  for  the  battle  of  Mobile. 
At  once,  giving  up  all  thought  of  going  home,  he 
offered  his  services  to  Admiral  Farragut,  who  gladly 
accepted  them,  and  appointed  him  to  the  command  of 
the  iron-clad  Chickasaw,  which  had  just  arrived  at  New 
Orleans  from  St.  Louis,  and  was  a  new  and  untried 
monitor. 

The  attacking  force  at  Mobile  was  to  include  four 
iron-clads,  and  indispensable  as  these  had  been  proved 
for  any  naval  movement,  yet  the  government  furnished 
them  to  Admiral  Farragut  with  great  delay  and  appar 
ent  reluctance  ;  or,  as  Commander  Mahan  says  in  his 
recent  book  entitled  "  Our  Navy  in  the  Gulf  and  Inland 
Waters  during  the  Civil  War,"  "  after  many  askings 
and  months  of  delay." 

As  one  reads  the  history  of  those  times,  it  is  impossi 
ble  to  understand  what  could  have  influenced  our  gov 
ernment  to  proceed  at  such  a  cost  of  life  and  treasure. 
The  need  of  iron-clads  had  been  declared  by  the  fore 
most  and  most  experienced  officers  of  the  navy  ;  notably 
by  Admiral  Bailey,  in  all  his  speeches  and  remarks 
after  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  The  rebels  early  rec 
ognized  their  usefulness,  and  not  only  availed  them 
selves  of  all  means  of  possessing  them,  but  strove  to 
keep  us  in  terror  by  circulating  reports  of  those  they 
claimed  to  have  received  from  England.  It  was  some 
times  said  that  the  older  officers  in  our  service  preferred 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       135 

wooden  vessels.  But  there  seems  no  proof  of  this,  cer 
tainly  not  after  the  victory  of  the  Monitor  in  Hampton 
Roads.  Two  years  before  the  battle  of  Mobile,  when 
George  lay  off  that  bay  blockading,  he  often  wrote  of 
what  he  would  like  to  do  if  he  only  had  "command 
of  an  iron-clad,"  and  every  fighting  officer  had  been 
asserting  for  a  long  time  the  folly  of  making  attacks 
with  wooden  vessels. 

In  a  report  made  January  20,  1864,  Admiral  Farragut 
says,  immediately  after  a  reconnoissance  of  Mobile 
Bay  : 

"Without  iron-clads  we  should  not  be  able  to  fight 
the  enemy's  vessels  of  that  class  with  much  prospect  of 
success,  as  the  latter  could  lie  in  the  flats  where  our 
ships  could  not  go  to  destroy  them.  Wooden  vessels 
can  do  nothing  with  them,  unless  by  getting  within  one 
hundred  or  two  hundred  yards,  so  as  to  ram  them  or 
pour  in  a  broadside." 

Early  in  May  the  Tennessee,  having  been  floated 
over  Dog  River  Bar,  appeared  in  full  view  of  the 
blockading  fleet,  and  the  Admiral  reports  to  the  depart 
ment  : 

"I  fear  it  will  be  much  more  difficult  to  take  Mobile 
than  it  would  have  been  one  week  ago." 

At  last  the  department  put  at  the  disposal  of  Admiral 
Farragut  four  iron-clads.  Two — the  Tecumsch  and  the 
Manhattan — were  sent  him  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
two — the  Chickasaw  and  the  Winnebago — from  the 
Mississippi  river. 

These  last  two  were  built  at  St.  Louis  by  Mr.  Eads, 
and  there  was  great  doubt  expressed  as  to  their  being 
either  suitable  or  serviceable.  It  was  even  thought 
that  they  might  not  be  able  to  make  the  voyage  from 
New  Orleans  to  Mobile.  Mr.  Eads,  however,  war- 


136  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

ranted  them  to  the  government,  and  declared  that  they 
were  certain  to  do  good  service  if  properly  handled, 
and  that,  in  fact,  if  they  did  not  prove  to  be  all  that  he 
claimed,  he  would  bear  the  expenses  incurred  bv  their 
trial. 

These  monitors  were  built  after  favorite  plans  of  Mr. 
Eads,  were  of  light  draught,  and  could  be  used  in 
rivers.  After  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay,  Mr.  Eads  pub 
lished  in  the  St.  Louis  Democrat  an  article  entitled  "A 
Chapter  in  History,"  written  in  defence  of  these  iron 
clads,  where  he  relates  his  conversation  with  Secretary 
Welles  and  Assistant  Secretary  Fox.  He  was  very 
indignant  at  the  declaration  of  Admiral  Porter  that 
"these  vessels  would  break  to  pieces  in  the  least 
swell,"  and  he  denied  it  as  an  "  utter  falsehood;" 
while'  as  an  evidence  of  his  sincerity,  and  of  his  confi 
dence  in  them,  he  promptly  offered  that  if  the  sec 
retary  would  send  them  to  Mobile,  he  would  replace 
them  at  his  own  individual  cost,  if  they  should  be  lost 
in  any  ordinary  weather  in  their  passage  through  the 
Gulf.  The  article  concludes  : 

"The  result  of  the  presence  of  Mr.  Eads's  monitors 
in  Mobile  has  passed  into  history,  and  the  statement  of 
Admiral  Porter  can  be  compared  with  the  fact  that  the 
powerful  and  almost  invulnerable  Tennessee  was  mainly 
whipped  by  the  Chickasaiu  in  the  memorable  fight  on 
the  fifth  of  August." 

Of  the  four  iron-clads  that  went  into  that  battle,  the 
Chickasaw  was  the  only  one  that  remained  in  perfect 
condition  throughout  the  fight.  The  Tecumseh  was 
blown  up  in  the  beginning  by  a  torpedo,  the  Manhattan 
(Captain  Nicholson)  lost  the  use  of  one  of  her  guns  by 
the  dropping  of  a  fragment  of  iron  into  the  vent,  and 
as  it  could  not  be  got  out,  she  was  able  to  fire  but  six 
of  her  heavy  shot  during  the  entire  action.  The  turrets 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  137 

of  the  Winnebago  were  out  of  order  and  could  not 
revolve,  forcing  her  to  "yaw,"  in  seaman  phrase;— 
that  is,  to  turn  completely  round  whenever  she  fired. 
Or  as  Commander  Mahan  says:  "The  guns  could 
only  be  trained  by  moving  the  helm,  and  her  fire  was 
necessarily  slow." 

The  Chickasaw  entered  the  conflict  in  perfect  condi 
tion.  George  had,  by  untiring  effort,  made  her,  and 
everything  and  everybody  on  board  of  her,  as  thor 
oughly  prepared  as  was  possible  for  human  foresight 
and  human  endeavor.  He  examined,  improved,  and 
tested  everything  up  to  the  last  moment  before  the 
battle,  and  the  result  was  that  not  only  did  she  endure 
the  strain  of  firing  fifty-two  solid  shot  on  the  morning 
of  the  5th  of  August  with,  as  has  been  said,  "the  pre 
cision  and  rapidity  of  pocket  pistols;"  but  that  after 
noon  she  bombarded  Fort  Powell,  and  the  next  day 
Fort  Gaines,  and  was  engaged  twenty-four  hours  in 
succession  in  the  reduction  of  Fort  Morgan. 

George  writes  from  New  Orleans  as  follows  : 

"JuLY  22,  1864. 

"  I  arrived  here  from  Texas  a  few  days  ago,  and 
have  taken  command  of  a  large  double-turreted  moni 
tor  named  the  Chickasaw.  I  volunteered  to  take  com 
mand  of  her  during  the  fight,  which  is  to  come  off  so 
soon  at  Mobile.  I  hope  I  shall  be  successful  and  come 
out  all  right.  I  shall  write  you  again  in  a  few  days,  or 
as  soon  as  I  get  off  Mobile — anyway,  by  the  time  you 
receive  this  the  action  will  be  over." 

The  letter  continues  with  directions  about  clothes  and 
other  things  he  has  sent  home,  and  finishes  : 

"  I  have  not  time  to  accept  any  of  the  many  invita 
tions  I  receive.  I  have  not  even  time  to  write,  but  will 
write  a  long  letter  to  mother  as  soon  as  I  can.  She 


138  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

must  not  worry  about  me.  I  hope  everything  will 
come  out  for  the  best.  Life  is  not  very  long  anyway, 
and  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.  I  should  only  dread  leav 
ing  you  all  at  home." 

"JULY  27,  1864. 
"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

"  I  shall  go  to  sea  to-morrow  night,  and  as  soon  as 
the  iron-dads  arrive  off  Mobile  the  fight  will  come  off. 
I  have  a  large  command  for  my  rank — a  crew  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  men  and  twenty-five  officers. 
She  carries  four  eleven-inch  guns  and  has  two  turrets, 
and  you  can  judge  of  her  power  by  the  fact  that  it 
requires  fifteen  engines  to  work  her. 

"  I  am  very  busy,  and  am  writing  at  this  moment 
among  a  lot  of  mechanics,  who  are  working  as  fast  as 
they  can  to  get  the  ship  in  order.  There  is  so  much 
noise,  and  there  is  so  much  to  be  done,  that  I  can 
hardly  think.  The  cabin  is  so  hot  that  I  cannot  stay  in 
it.  When  we  are  under  steam  the  thermometer,  below 
decks,  goes  up  to  150°,  and  in  the  engine-room  to 
214°.  You  have  heard  of  the  man  who  lived  in  an 
oven  !  Well,  the  cabin  of  a  monitor  does  not  leave 
much  for  the  imagination  to  do  in  considering  his  case. 
I  am  hurrying  everything  all  I  can,  and  live  in  the 
midst  of  confusion. 

"I  hope  to  come  home  after  the  fight,  as  I  only 
volunteered  for  that  fight ;  but  everything  will  be  for 
the  best  whichever  way  it  turns. 

"I  shall  write  you  at  sea  on  my  way  to  Mobile. 
Everything  will  be  over  before,  you  receive  the  letters, 
and  I  only  hope  you  will  not  be  worrying  yourself 
about  me,  but  look  at  the  bright  side,  and  believe  I 
shall  come  out  safe.  I  should  liked  to  have  seen  you 
once  more  before  this  fight.  Remember  if  I  get  killed 
it  will  be  an  honorable  death,  and  the  thought  should 
partly  take  away  your  sorrow." 


C      *: 
u      p. 


E-       S 

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£ 

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I! 

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II 


i-J        >> 

g        §• 
v       '-» 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      139 

When  the  Chickasaw  had  left  New  Orleans,  and  was 
on  its  way  down  the  Mississippi,  an  incident  occurred 
which  well  illustrated  the  saying,  that  "  safety  is  the 
price  of  eternal  vigilance." 

As  the  ship  approached  the  bar,  George  was  called 
away  from  the  pilot-house  to  attend  to  some  other  duty  : 
but  a  sudden  suspicion  causing  him  shortly  to  look 
around,  he  saw  that  the  pilot  had  changed  her  course, 
and  was  heading  for  a  wreck  close  aboard.  To  strike 
this  would  have  sunk  her.  George  sprang  back  to  the 
pilot-house,  and  seizing  the  wheel  turned  the  ship  in  the 
right  direction;  then  drawing  his  pistol,  he  told  the 
pilot,  whom  he  was  now  convinced  was  a  traitor,  that 
if  the  ship  touched  ground,  or  anything  else,  he  would 
blow  his  brains  out.  The  pilot  was  very  much  fright 
ened  and  said  that  the  bottom  of  the  river  was  lumpy 
and  that  the  best  of  pilots  were  liable  to  touch  some 
time  ;  but  George  told  him  to  take  his  choice  between 
trying  to  serve  the  Confederacy,  and  saving  his  life,  for 
if  the  ship  touched  a  single  lump,  he  would  shoot  him. 
Needless  to  say  that  the  ship's  further  course  out  of  the 
river  was  uninterrupted.* 

"  OFF  MOBILE  BAY,  August  2,  1864. 
"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

'*  I  arrived  here  yesterday  from  New  Orleans,  and 
am  now  anchored  in  company  with  the  Manhattan,  an 
iron-clad,  and  the  Winnebago,  which  is  the  same  kind 
of  a  vessel  as  mine.  The  Ch^ckasa^v  looks  just  like 
the  back  of  a  great  turtle,  257  feet  long  and  57  feet 
broad.  I  wish  you  could  see  her.  We  are  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  Fort  Morgan.  The  wooden  ves 
sels  cannot  come  so  near,  as  this  is  within  easy  range 
of  the  enemy's  guns. 

*  This  story  is  well  told  in  Captain  Belknap's  sketch  of  my  brother,  pub 
lished  in  t'^e  Bay  State  Monthly  of  April,  1884. 


&4-0       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"The  Admiral  visited  me  yesterday  and  inspected 
this  ship.  He  has  paid  me  a  great  compliment  by  giv 
ing  me  the  command  of  her,  for  all  the  other  iron-dads 
have  old  captains  for  their  commanders.  It  will  be  a 
•<  feather  in  my  cap'  if  I  come  out  all  right;  but  don't 
forget  that  '  if' 

"  I  have  been  very,  very  hard  at  work  getting  ready 
for  the  right,  which  comes  off  in  two  days  now.  It  is 
expected  to  be  a  very  desperate  one,  though  I  feel  no 
doubt  but  that  we  shall  have  the  victory. 

"  I  am  very  tired  and  cannot  write  to  you  as  I  would 
wish  ;  but,  my  dear  mother,  I  think  of  you  nearly  all 
the  time,  and  I  know  I  have  done  as  you  would  wish 
me  to.  I  have  seen  almost  enough  of  life,  and  I  only 
care  to  live  for  you  all  at  home.  Life  is  but  a  dream 
anyway,  and  we  cannot  always  live  :  so  whatever  hap 
pens,  it  will  no  doubt  be  for  the  best. 

"You  must  look  out  for  my  prize-money.  I  shall 
try  and  leave  a  few  lines  for  you  just  before  the  action, 
and  if  anything  happens  to  me  they  will  be  sent  you." 

"AUGUST  4,  1864. 

"  This  vessel  is  so  hot  that  we  are  obliged  to  sleep 
on  deck  ;  and  I  am  a  little  used  up.  I  left  a  box  of 
clothes  and  other  things  on  board  the  Bermuda. 
Should  you  not  get  them  in  course  of  time,  write  for 
them  to  Capt.  Jerry  Smith.  I  will  also  drop  him  a  line. 
I  ought  to  have  about  eight  thousand  dollars  of  prize- 
money, — four  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  four 
for  the  blockade  runner,  Mary  Sorlcy* 

44  I  think  of  you  all  so  much  at  home,  and  I  love  you 
all  so  much,  I  wish  I  could  receive  a  few  lines  from 
you  just  before  the  tight.  I  know  I  shall  not  disgrace 

*No  prize-money  was  ever  paid  him  for  New  Orleans,  but  he   received 
.some  for  the  Mary  Sorley. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       141 

myself,  no  matter  how  hot  the  fighting  may  be,  for  I 
shall  be  thinking  of  you  all  at  the  time.  It  seems  such 
a  long  time  since  I  heard  from  home  ;  but  it  is  too  late 
now. 

"All  your  loved,  familiar  faces  come  before  my  eyes 
to-night  as  plainly  as  if  I  really  saw  them  ;  and, 
O  mother  !  mother  !  I  wish  I  could  put  my  arms 
around  your  neck  and  receive  your  blessing  and 
good-by  once  more." 

The  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  began  on  the  morning  of 
August  5th,  and  the  fleet  and  forts  were  fully  engaged 
between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  a.  m.  Some  descrip 
tion  of  the  battle  is  given  in  a  letter  which  George 
wrote  in  answer  to  inquiries  which  were  made  of  him 
about  the  engagement,  and  about  the  orders  which 
the  iron-clads  received,  the  course  which  they  pur 
sued,  etc. 

These  inquiries  were  in  the  first  place  about  the 
course  of  the  Union  fleet,  followed  by  minute  questions 
about  the  orders  received  by  the  iron-clads,  and  then 
questions  about  the  Tennessee's  original  position,  sub 
sequent  movements  during  the  tight,  and  finally  about 
her  surrender,  and  to  whom.  George  said  in  answer: 

"  The  iron-clads  were  ordered  to  follow  according  to- 
rank,  inside  the  fleet,  between  fleet  and  fort.  The 
Chickasaiv  was  placed  last  of  the  iron-clads,  and  had 
orders  to  be  reserve  force,  and  remain  with  the  wooden, 
vessels.  Our  course  was  between  a  certain  buoy, 
marked  on  the  chart,  and  the  shore.  This  passage  was 
known  to  be  free  from  torpedoes,  and  was  left  for  the 
blockade  runners.  It  was  a  narrow  passage,  and  was 
protected  by  the  guns  of  the  fort.  All  the  vessels  had 
orders  to  keep  between  that  buoy  and  the  shore  ;  but  in 
other  respects  the  iron-clads  had  separate  orders  from 
the  wooden  vessels.  In  the  confusion  resulting  from 


142  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

the  destruction  of  the  Tecumseh  and  the  movements  of 
the  Brooklyn,  the  iron-clads  received  no  orders,  and 
followed  in  the  line  of  the  other  vessels. 

"  I  pushed  the  Chickasaw  forward  as  rapidly  as  pos 
sible,  and  with  the  others  fired  at  the  fort  to  keep  down 
its  fire  until  the  wooden  vessels  had  passed. 

"When  the  Tennessee  passed  my  ship  first,  it  was 
on  my  port  side.  After  that  she  steered  toward  Fort 
Morgan.  Some  of  our  vessels  anchored,  others  kept 
under  way,  and  when  the  Tennessee  approached  the 
fleet  again,  she  was  at  once  attacked  by  the  wooden 
vessels,  but  they  made  no  impression  upon  her.  An 
order  was  now  brought  from  Admiral  Farragut  to  the 
iron-clads,  by  Dr.  Palmer,  directing  them  to  attack  the 
Tennessee ;  but  when  they  approached  her,  she  moved 
off  towards  the  fort  again.  I  followed  straight  after 
her  with  the  Chickasaiu,  and  overtaking  her,  I  poured 
solid  shot  into  her  as  fast  as  I  could,  and  after  a  short 
engagement  forced  her  to  surrender,  having  shot  away 
her  smoke-stack,  destroyed  her  steering  gear,  and 
jammed  her  after-ports,  rendering  her  guns  useless, 
while  one  of  my  shots  wounded  Admiral  Buchanan. 
I  followed  her  close,  my  guns  and  turrets  continuing  in 
perfect  order  in  spite  of  the  strain  upon  them. 

"  When  Johnston  came  on  the  roof  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  showed  the  white  flag  as  signal  of  surrender,  no 
vessel  of  our  fleet — except  the  Chickasaw — was  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile.  But  the  Ossipce  was  approaching, 
and  her  captain  was  much  older  than  myself.  I  was 
wet  with  perspiration,  begrimed  with  powder,  and 
exhausted  with  constant  and  violent  exertion  ;  so  I 
drew  back  and  allowed  Captain  LeRoy  to  receive  the 
surrender,  though  my  first  lieutenant,  Mr.  Hamilton, 
said  at  the  time  :  '  Captain  Perkins,  you  are  making  a 
mistake.'  " 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       143 

At  the  time  of  this  battle,  through  which  George 
fought  and  manoeuvred  the  Chickasa-w,  he  was  twenty- 
seven  years  and  nine  months  old. 

When  the  Tecumseh  was  blown  up  by  a  torpedo,  it 
threw  the  fleet  into  the  wildest  excitement,  and  almost 
demoralized  it.  Captain  Alden,  of  the  Brooklyn,  gave 
orders  to  back  his  ship,  which  further  increased  the 
confusion.  It  was  a  moment  when  the  courage  of  the 
ships'  commanders  was  thoroughly  tested.  George 
was  in  the  forward  turret  of  the  Chickasaw,  giving  his 
personal  attention  to  the  sighting  of  the  guns.  His 
gunners  turned  pale  when  they  saw  the  Tccumseh 
blown  to  pieces,  and  rushed  from  their  guns,  but 
George  sprang  before  them,  and  drawing  his  pistol, 
declared  he  would  shoot  the  first  man  who  deserted  his 
post ;  then  giving  an  energetic  kick  to  one  who  had 
flung  himself  at  his  feet,  exclaiming,  "  Let  me  out, 
Captain,  let  me  out!"  he  brought  him  to  his  senses 
and  ordered  him  to  his  post. 

I  quote  the  following  note  from  Commander  Mahan's 
book  : 

"Lieutenant  Commander  Perkins  and  the  executive 
officer  of  the  Chickasaiv,  Mr.  Hamilton,  were  going 
North  from  other  ships,  on  leave  of  absence, — the  lat 
ter  on  sick  leave, — but  had  offered  their  services  for  the 
battle.  The  fire  of  the  Chickasaw  was  the  most  dam 
aging  to  the  Tennessee.  In  her  engagement  with  the 
ram,  she  fired  fifty-two  solid  shot,  almost  all  into  the 
stern,  where  the  greatest  injury  was  done. 

**  The  Metacomet  went  to  Pensacola  that  night  under 
a  flag  of  truce,  with  the  wounded  from  the  fleet  and  the 
Tennessee,  and  was  taken  out  by  the  pilot  of  the  latter. 
He  asked  Captain  Jewett,  *  Who  commanded  the  mon 
itor  that  got  under  the  ram's  stern?'  adding,  '  Damn 
him  !  he  stuck  to  us  like  a  leech  ;  we  could  not  get 


144       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

away  from  him  ;  it  was  he  who  cut  away  the  steering- 
gear,  jammed  the  stern  port  shutters,  and  wounded 
Admiral  Buchanan." 

Admiral  Buchanan  himself,  in  conversation  with  a 
New  Hampshire  man,  who  saw  and  talked  with  him 
not  long  after  the  battle,  gave  the  whole  credit  of  the 
capture  of  the  Tennessee  to  the  Chickasaw. 

It  was  found  upon  examination  that  only  one  fifteen- 
inch  shot  from  the  Manhattan  had  penetrated  the  armor 
of  the  Tennessee,  and  this  did  not  come  through  the 
woodwork,  only  breaking  it  and  scattering  splinters. 
All  other  damaging  shots  to  the  Tennessee  were  found 
by  actual  measurement  to  have  been  dealt  by  eleven- 
inch  solid  shot. 

In  the  report  on  the  survey  of  the  Tennessee  ordered 
by  Farragut  after  the  battle,  the  following  statement  is 
made  : 

"There  are  unmistakable  marks  on  the  after  part  of 
the  casement  of  not  less  than  nine  eleven-inch  solid 
shot  having  struck  within  the  space  of  a  few  square 
feet,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  that  port." 

In  his  monograph  on  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay,  Cap 
tain  Foxhall  A.  Parker  says  : 

"But  the  vessel  that  undoubtedly  inflicted  the  most 
injury  upon  the  ram  was  the  monitor  Chickasaw,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Commander  George  H.  Perkins, 
4  which  hung,'  said  the  pilot  of  the  Tennessee,  '  close 
under  our  stern  ;  move  where  we  would  she  was  always 
there,  firing  the  two  eleven-inch  guns  in  her  forward 
turret  like  pocket  pistols,  so  that  she  soon  had  the  plates 
flying  in  the  air." 

George's  own  report  is  as  follows  : 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       145 

"  U.  S.  IRON-CLAD  CHICKASAW, 

MOBILE  BAY,  August  7,  1864. 
"  SIR: 

"I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  report: 
At  5  : 30  a.  m.,  on  Friday,  August  5th,  in  obedience  to 
orders,  I  got  under  way,  and  took  my  position  in  rear 
of  the  Winnebago  on  the  right  of  the  line.  I  passed 
the  forts  with  the  rest  of  the  fleet  firing  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  Afterwards,  in  obedience  to  orders,  I 
attacked  the  ram  7^enncsscc,  following  her  up  closely? 
shooting  awav  her  smokestack  and  firing  solid  shot 

»  £> 

at  her,  until  her  flag  was  hauled  down  and  a  white 
flag  raised.  Her  steering  gear  having  been  shot  away 
I  took  her  in  tow,  and  brought  her  to  anchor  near  the 
Hartford. 

"  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  I  again  got 
under  way,  and  brought  a  large  barge — the  Ingomar 
— out  from  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Powell,  exchanging 
several  shots  and  being  struck  three  times.  On  the 
morning  of  the  6th,  I  proceeded  again  to  Fort  Powell, 
which  I  found  deserted  and  blown  up.  I  towed  out 
another  barge.  In  the  afternoon  I  advanced  and 
shelled  Fort  Gaines." 

George  then  enumerates  the  officers  and  men  who 
distinguished  themselves  on  his  ship,  and  closes  with 
the  report  of  the  injuries  received  by  the  Chickasaw. 
There  were  no  casualties  among  the  men,  but  the  ves 
sel's  "smokestack  was  almost  shot  away,  and  one  shot 
penetrated  the  deck  on  the  starboard  bow." 

Admiral  Farragut  says  in  his  report  to  the  depart 
ment  : 

"I  cannot  give  too  much  praise  to  Lieutenant  Com 
mander  Perkins,  who,  though  he  had  orders  from  the 
department  to  return  North,  volunteered  to  take  com 
mand  of  the  Cy^'^Y^tfz^,  and  did  his  duty  nobly." 


146  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

As  George's  management  of  the  Ckickasaw  had 
proved  Mr.  Eads's  position,  with  regard  to  his  iron 
clads,  in  the  most  triumphant  manner,  its  success  was 
a  great  gratification  to  this  gentleman,  and  he  told 
George's  father  that  he  would  "  gladly  walk  fifty  miles 
to  shake  hands  with  the  young  man."  He  also  request 
ed  him,  as  George  was  not  easily  accessible  at  the  time, 
to  have  some  description  of  the  Chickasaiu' s  part  in  the 
battle  prepared  for  him  to  publish,  for  all  testimony  to 
the  efficiency  of  his  ships  was  valuable  to  him. 

As  it  happened,  Dr.  E.  R.  Hutchins,  who  had  been 
surgeon  on  the  Port  Royal  during  the  fight,  was  visit 
ing  in  Concord,  and  George's  father  requested  the  infor 
mation  from  him  as  he  was  an  eye-witness. 

Dr.  Hutchins  most  kindly  wrote  the  following  letter, 
giving  an  account  of  what  he  actually  saw  the  Chicka- 
sazv  perform,  as  well  as  what  was  the  general  senti 
ment  of  the  fleet  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  and  my  father 
forwarded  it  to  Mr.  Eads,  who  had  it  published  in  the 
St.  .Louis  Democrat: 

"THE    NAVAL    FIGHT    IN    MOBILE    BAY. 

"  The  following  communication,  lately  received  by 
James  B.  Eads,  Esq.,  of  St.  Louis,  and  by  him  kindly 
furnished  to  us,  presents  probably  the  most  veracious 
and  accurate — certainly  one  of  the  most  graphic — 
accounts  yet  given  of  the  great  naval  engagement  in 
Mobile  Bay  : 

"PHILADELPHIA,   PA.,   March    12,    1867. 

"  DEAR  SIR:  The  reports  of  the  Mobile  fight,  as  published  by  the 
Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  fail  to  do  justice  to  two  or  three  officers 
commanding  their  respective  vessels  during  that  justly  celebrated 
naval  engagement,  and  the  greatest,  and  the  most  palpable  and  appar 
ent,  is  that  done  the  iron-clad  Chickasaw,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Commanding  George  H.  Perkins. 

"  I  speak  without  prejudice  or  bias,  but  simply  for  justice,  being  an 


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LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      147 

eye-witness  to  the  \vhole  engagement,  and  but  reiterate  what  fell  from 
the  lips  of  almost  all  the  officers  and  men  after  the  fight  ceased.  I 
desire  to  give  praise  only  where  praise  is  due. 

"  I  can  now  speak  with  freedom,  my  tongue  no  longer  bridled  by 
the  forms  of  the  army  or  navy.  At  the  time  of  the  fight  I  was  the 
medical  officer  on  board  the  United  States  ship  Port  Royal,  com 
manded  by  as  brave  an  officer  as  the  navy  produced,  Lieutenant 
Commanding  Gheracli. 

"The  morning  of  August  5,  1864,  was  sultry  and  dull,  but  found 
the  fleet  active  and  busy,  and,  as  the  ship's  bell  rung  out  the  hour  of 
six,  they  were  under  way,  the  Brooklyn  taking  the  lead,  followed  by 
the  Hartford,  on  which  was  the  intrepid  chief,  Farragut : 

ist — Brooklyn,  with  Octavia  on  port  side. 

2d — Hartford,  with  Metacomet. 

3d — Richelieu,  with  Port  Royal. 

4th — Lackaivanna,  with  Seminole. 

5th — Monongahela,  with  Kennebeck. 

6th — Ossipee,  with  Galena. 

"  Inside  and  over  the  bar  the  iron-clads  had  taken  their  positions 
on  the  starboard  side  of  the  wooden  ships,  and  were  there  exposed  to 
the  open  fire  of  Fort  Morgan  and  to  the  first  attack  of  the  ram  Ten 
nessee,  the  boast  of  the  Confederate  navy. 

"  About  one  quarter  to  seven  o'clock,  the  Tecumseh,  commanded 
by  the  gallant  Craven,  fired  the  first  shot.  No  answer  came  from 
the  fort,  and  still  the  fleet  sailed  proudly  on,  with  every  flag  unfurled, 
and  with  as  proud  and  brave  men  as  ever  a  fleet  possessed. 

"  A  few  moments  past  seven  the  forts  gave  us  a  salute  from  one  of 
her  guns,  and  this  was  immediately  answered  by  the  Brooklyn.  This 
was  the  prelude  to  the  grand  action,  which  was  at  once  commenced. 

"All  eyes  wrere  upon  the  Brooklyn  and  Tecumseh,  which  were  still 
in  the  lead.  Presently  the  Brooklyn  stopped,  then  backed,  and  trouble 
was  anticipated,  and  soon  a  gigantic  uprising  of  water,  and  the 
Tecumseh  was  swallowed  up  with  her  gallant  commander  and  nearly 
all  her  crew.  Now,  the  Admiral,  as  if  eager  to  avenge  the  loss  of  his 
gallant  men,  dashes  by  the  Brooklyn  and  takes  the  lead  himself. 

"Every  vessel,  as  soon  as  it  could,  brought  its  guns  to  bear  on 
the  fort.  The  fort  also  opened  her  guns,  and  it  was  one  sheet  of 
blaze,  and  one  long,  awful  boom  of  cannon.  Up  to  this  time  we  had 
experienced  no  trouble  from  the  rebel  fleet;  but  now,  with  courage 
and  boldness  '  worthy  a  better  cause,1  the  rebel  commanders  dashed 
out  with  their  respective  commands,  and  the  Morgan,  Selina,  and 


148  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    13ERKINS. 

Gaines  kept  up  an  annoying  fire,  and  the  Tennessee  dashed  at  the 
Hartford. 

''  Imagine  those  old  sea  dogs,  Farragut  and  Buchanan,  the  best 
the  navy  had,  who  from  early  boyhood  had  been  intimate  friends,  the 
one  a  loyal  man  fighting  for  and  beneath  the  flag  of  his  country,  the 
other  a  traitor  and  rebel  fighting  against  that  flag. 

"  Every  eye  sought  these  commands,  and  when  the  ram  failed  to 
harm  the  Hartford  with  her  prow,  every  heart  thanked  God.  The 
Tennessee  made  an  attempt  in  passing  to  ram  every  vessel  in  the  line, 
and  failed  every  time.  The  Metacomet  and  Port  Royal  pursued  the 
Selina,  which  was  steaming  up  the  bay,  and  soon  captured  her.  She 
surrendered  to  the  Metacomet,  which  was  much  faster  than  the  Port 
Royal. 

'•  The  ram  Tennessee  at  this  time  went  under  the  guns  of  the  fort, 
like  a  great  giant,  resting  for  a  moment  but  to  renew  the  fight  with 
still  greater  fury.  The  Morgan  and  Gaines,  drawing  but  little  water, 
retreated  safely  under  the  guns  of  the  fort. 

"  The  United  States  fleet  steamed  slowly  westward,  anxious  and 
eagerly  waiting  for  the  Tennessee  to  attack  it ;  and  now  it  occurred. 
Slowly,  steadily,  and  bravely  she  steamed  towards  us  ;  and  as  my  own 
vessel  was  lying  still  near  by,  my  opportunity  for  observation  was 
excellent. 

"The  Monongahela,  Captain  Strong,  was  the  first  to  meet  her,  and 
it  seemed  to  us  who  saw  her,  that  she  absolutely  rode  upon  her  as  she 
struck  her;  and  yet  this  blow  was  as  harmless  to  the  Tennessee  as  if 
it  had  been  given  by  Bennett's  yacht  Henrietta.  The  Lackawanna 
followed,  as  did  also  the  Hartford,  both  striking  her  powerfully,  and 
at  the  same  time  pouring  their  broadsides  into  her,  and  yet  all  this 
did  her  apparently  no  harm,  but  inflicted  serious  injury  upon  them 
selves.  While  the  wooden  ships  were  thus  busy,  the  monitors  took 
up  the  attack,  the  Manhattan  now  and  then  giving  her  the  benefit  of 
her  fifteen-inch  shot,  while  the  Chickasaw  was  closely  at  her  stern  ; 
as  the  Tennessee  steered  so  steered  the  Chickasaw,  keeping  her  guns 
constantly  pounding  the  Tennessee*  s  stern,  carrying  away  her  smoke 
stack,  breaking  in  her  port-shutters,  shattering  her  steering  gear — she 
was  positively  held  in  this  position  by  the  Chickasaw.  No  vessel 
under  heaven  could  hold  out  under  such  punishment,  and  the  Tennes 
see  soon  hoisted  the  white  flag  of  surrender.  There  ended  this  terri 
ble  fight. 

"  The  praise  of  Commander  Perkins  for  the  superb  management  of 
his  command  and  the  most  admirable  and  efficient  working  of  his  ship 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       149 

was  upon  the  lips  of  all.  I  believe  the  Chickasaw  did  more  to  capture 
the  Tennessee  than  all  others  combined  ;  and  I  firmly  believe,  and  I 
unhesitatingly  affirm  that  belief,  that  without  the  iron-clads  that  day 
the  laurels  of  victory  would  have  fallen  elsewhere.  The  iron-clads 
saved  the  day. 

"  The  chief  glory  and  honor  of  the  victory  of  course  belong  to  that 
brave  old  salammder,  Farragut,  and  yet  the  pen  of  the  knowing  and 
unprejudiced  historian  must  give  laurels  to  others  than  those  upon 
whom  they  chiefly  fall  in  the  official  report  of  the  fight. 

"  While  Captain  Jewett  deserves  praise  and  honor,  he  but  did  his 
duty  \  and  just  as  well,  just  as  bravely,  and  just  as  nobly  did  Gheradi 
and  Brown  and  Donnelson  theirs  ;  and  yet  we  are  told,  '  if  the  other 
gunboats  had  done  as  much  as  the  Metacomet,  no  rebel  gunboat 
would  have  escaped  !  ' 

"  Where  praise  is  due  it  should  be  given.  The  service  of  the  Chick 
asaw,  so  valuable  and  so  indispensable,  did  not  end  here.  That  very 
afternoon,  before  the  heat  of  battle  had  fairly  subsided,  she,  under  a 
heavy  fire,  and  being  struck  three  times,  towed  out  a  large  barge  from 
under  the  guns  of  Fort  Powell.  The  following  day  she  kept  up  a 
brisk  fire  upon  Fort  Gaines.  Her  light  draft  of  water  made  her  in 
valuable,  while  her  invulnerable  sides  and  her  excellent  steering,  and 
her  powerful  armament  seemed  to  me  to  render  her  decidedly  the  most 
effective  vessel  in  that  memorable  fight. 

"  I  have  thus  written  a  lengthy  letter.  I  have  really  not  given  half 
the  praise  that  is  due  the  Chickasaw. 

"A  remark  of  Com.  Johnston — a  rebel  on  board  the  Tennessee  at 
the  time  of  her  capture — occurs  to  me.  In  speaking  of  the  Chickasaw 

in  the  fight  he  said  :  «  If  it  had  not  been  for  that  d d  black  hulk 

hanging  on  our  stern  we  would  have  got  along  well  enough  ;  she  did 
us  more  damage  than  all  the  rest  of  the  Federal  fleet."1 

The  following  extract  is  from  Harper's  Magazine, 
which  says,  after  describing  the  wooden  ships  ramming 
the  Tennessee  : 

"  By  this  time  young  Captain  Perkins  had  worked 
his  way  close  to  the  ram.  He  fought  his  vessel  nobly, 
but  the  Tennessee 's  heavy  plating  made  strom*  resist- 

»/      i  o  o 

ance  against  his  eleven-inch  shot.  He  disabled  the 
rebel's  steering  apparatus,  and  by  continuous  pounding 
made  the  splinters  fly  among  the  rebels  to  their  confu- 


150  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

sion.  One  of  the  shots  striking  the  after-port  killed 
one  man  —  utterly  demolishing  him  —  and  wounding 
Buchanan. 

"  Within  a  square  often  feet  he  planted  a  dozen  solid 
shot.  The  Manhattan  fired  six  shots  at  the  ram,  one  of 
which  seems  to  have  struck.  The  Lackaivanna  deliv 
ered  the  fairest  ramming  blow  at  the  Tennessee.  The 
affair  was  like  a  tournament,  the  fleet  being  spectators. 
The  Monongahela  rushed  upon  the  Tennessee  twice  ; 
after  her,  came  the  Lackaiuanna,  Hartford,  and  Ossi- 
-pee,  and  no  doubt  every  vessel  in  the  fleet  would  have 
punched  her,  had  not  the  noble  Perkins  made  her  cry 
enough." 

The  next  extract  is  from  a  review  written  for  the 
Nation,  by  General  J.  C.  Palfrey,  on  Captain  Parker's 

"  BATTLE    OF    MOBILE    BAY. 

"  Lieutenant  Commander  Perkins,  of  the  Chickasaw, 
had  been  ordered  North,  but  asked  for  and  obtained 
permission  to  wait,  till  he  had  carried  his  monitor 
through  the  expected  fight.  Though  one  of  the 
youngest  officers  in  command  of  a  ship,  he  had  the 
sagacity  to  reflect  that  in  a  strange  harbor,  full  of  torpe 
does,  he  should  be  safest  alongside  of  an  enemy's  ves 
sel,  which  for  its  own  safety  might  be  expected  to  keep 
clear  of  obstructions. 

"Accordingly  he  kept  close  under  the  stern  of  the 
Tennessee  and  would  not  be  thrown  off',  and  pounded 
away  at  close  quarters  with  his  eleven-inch  guns. 

'*  He  succeeded  in  jamming  one  of  her  ports  and 
opening  a  breach  for  his  shells  to  her  interior,  and  to 
him  Commodore  Parker  awards  the  praise  of  giving 
the  vital  wound  which  caused  her  surrender." 

The  New  York  Herald  of  August  2oth,  1864,  con 
tains  the  following  article  : 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  151 

"WHAT    THE    MONITORS    DID    AT    MOBILE. 

"  At  eight  o'clock  our  fleet  had  all  passed,  and  were 
beyond  range  of  Fort  Morgan.  At  that  hour  the  fight 
began  earnestly  and  defiantly  with  the  rebel  ram.  For 
two  hours  this  unequal  contest  lasted  ;  that  single  iron 
gunboat  skilfully  defying  the  efforts  of  our  largest  and 
fleetest  vessels  to  run  her  down,  and  her  thick  iron  mail 
resisting  our  heaviest  metal.  It  was  a  most  desperate 
struggle.  Our  great  sloops  of  war,  with  the  little  mon 
itor,  sailed  about  her  in  a  regular  circle,  pouring  into 
her  a  constant  fire  of  all  calibres,  including  the  heaviest 
known  in  modern  naval  warfare,  and  yet  she  withstood 
it  all  and  answered  gun  for  gun.  Her  endurance  was 
certainly  unparalleled.  Even  without  any  other  effect 
upon  her,  it  would  seem  that  her  men  would  be  ex 
hausted,  and  compelled  for  very  weariness  to  give  in  ; 
but  they  fought  on,  showing  no  signs  of  fatigue.  At 
last  the  double-turreted  monitor,  Chickasaw,  steamed 
close  under  her  stern,  and  at  close  range  discharged 
her  two  forward  guns.  When  the  smoke  of  these  tre 
mendous  discharges  cleared  away,  the  smokestack  of 
the  Tennessee  was  found  to  be  gone,  and  the  smoke  of 
her  engines  was  suffocating  her  men  beneath  the  case 
mates.  Game  to  the  last,  she  finally  surrendered  when 
she  could  no  longer  resist." 

The  Herald  correspondent,  in  a  more  detailed  ac 
count  of  the  fight,  written  two  or  three  days  later,  again 
alludes  to  the  surrender  of  the  Tennessee,  and  writes  as 
follows  : 

"The  final  shots  that  terminated  the  career  of  the 
rebel  vessel  were  fired  by  the  monitor  Ch^ckasa^v ,  which 
passed  close  under  her  stern,  giving  her  the  full  weight 
of  two  eleven-inch  solid  shot  from  her  bow  turret,  which 
damaged  the  cover  of  the  ram's  stern-ports. 


152       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  Buchanan  went  aft  with  his  engineer  to  readjust 
the  port-cover;  while  engaged  in  tins  operation  the 
Chickasaw  brought  her  after-turret  to  bear,  one  shot 
from  which  carried  away  the  tiller  chains  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  rendering  her  unmanagable,  while  the  other 
shot  entered  the  damaged  port,  killing  one  man  and 
fracturing  Buchanan's  leg.  Having  already  lost  her 
smokestack,  the  rebel  ship  was  now  utterly  helpless. 
She  was  therefore  surrendered  at  once,  hauling  down 
her  colors  to  the  Chickasaw^  Lieutenant  Commander 
Perkins,  commanding." 

On  the  afternoon  of  August  5th,  after  the  action  with 
the  Tennessee  in  the  morning,  Captain  Perkins  took  the 
Chickasaiu  close  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Powell,  ex 
changing  shots  with  the  fort  and  bringing  away  a  large 
barge,  the  Ingomar.  Of  this  occurrence,  a  New  Or 
leans  paper  speaks  as  follows  : 

"Lieutenant  Commander  Perkins,  of  the  monitor 
Chickasai.u ,  steamed  off  in  the  direction  of  Fort  Powell, 
and  then  discovered,  a  short  distance  from  the  fort,  and 
within  easy  range,  a  barge  at  anchor  filled  with  stones. 
It  was  the  intention  to  sink  it  in  the  channel  of  Grant's 
Pass  for  the  purpose  of  obstructing  it.  The  Chickasaiv 
passed  between  the  fort  and  the  barge,  secured  the  latter 
with  cables,  and  towed  the  barge  off,  the  fort  firing  in 
the  meantime." 

Col.  J.  M.  Williams,  the  rebel  commander  of  Fort 
Powell,  reports  as  follows  : 

"  About  2  :  30  p.  m.,  one  of  the  enemy's  monitors  came 
up  within  seven  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  firing  rapidly 
with  shell  and  grape.  .  .  .  The  iron-clad's  fire  made 
it  impossible  to  man  the  two  guns  in  the  rear,  and  I 
made  no  attempt  to  do  so. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       153 

"The  shells  exploding  in  the  face  of  the  work  displaced 
the  sand  so  rapidly  that  I  was  convinced,  that  unless  the 
iron-clad  was  driven  off,  it  would  explode  my  magazine, 
and  make  the  bomb-proof  chambers  untenable,  in  two 
days  at  the  furthest.  To  drive  it  from  its  position  I 
believed  to  be  impossible  with  my  imperfect  works,  and 
so  telegraphed  to  Colonel  Anderson,  commanding  Fort 
Gaines,  that  unless  I  could  evacuate  I  would  be  com 
pelled  to  surrender  within  forty-eight  hours." 

The  result  of  the  Chickasaitfs  bombardment  was  that 
Fort  Powell  was  evacuated  after  dark,  and  that  a  rebel 
lieutenant  was  "  left  in  the  fort  with  orders  to  prepare  a 
train  and  match  to  explode  the  magazine  as  soon  as  the 
garrison  had  reached  the  mainland.  .  '.  .  The  fort 
was  blown  up  at  10  :  30  p.  m." 

On  going  down  with  the  Chickasaiv  on  the  morning  of 
August  6,  Captain  Perkins,  as  stated  in  his  report,  found 
Fort  Powell  blown  up,  and  towed  out  another  barge. 
Of  these  Admiral  Farragut  speaks  in  his  report  of 
August  8,  where  he  says  : 

"  We  took  some  covered  barges  also  from  Fort  Powell 
and  Cedar  Point  which  do  us  as  good  service  as  a  work 
shop." 

In  hastening  the  surrender  of  Fort  Gaines,  \\~\eHcrald 
correspondent  thus  speaks  of  the  part  taken  by  the 
Chickasa-LU : 

"Yesterday  morning  on  discovering  the  full  extent  oi 
Granger's  operations,  and  being  warned  by  a  few  eleven- 
inch  shell  from  the  monitor  Chickasaw,  which  created 
some  destruction  within  the  works,  the  commandant, 
Colonel  Anderson,  sent  out  a  flag  of  truce  proposing  a 
surrender." 

Admiral  Farragut  thus  reports  it : 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  the  Chickasaw  went  down 


154  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

and  shelled  Fort  Gaines,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
I  received  a  communication  from  Colonel  Anderson, 
commanding  the  fort,  offering  to  surrender." 

The  Herald  correspondence  was  copied  into  a  Concord 
paper,  and  the  editor  comments  as  follows  : 

"  Lieutenant  George  H.  Perkins,  above  mentioned,  is 
a  son  of  Hon.  Hamilton  E.  Perkins  of  this  city.  He 
has  been  for  more  than  two  years  on  the  West  Gulf 
Squadron,  and  at  the  capture  of  New  Orleans,  the 
Cayuga,  of  which  he  was  executive  officer,  led  the 
squadron  up  the  Mississippi.  On  arriving  at  the  city, 
Mr.  Perkins  accompanied  Admiral  Bailey  to  the  city 
hall  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  place.  Just  before 
the  attack  on  Mobile  he  obtained  leave  of  absence,  but 
learning  of  the  preparations  for  the  attack,  he  volun 
teered  to  remain,  and  was  assigned  by  Admiral  Farragut 
to  the  command  of  the  Chickasaw.  He  is  one  of  the 
youngest  officers  of  his  rank  in  the  navy." 

The  fleet  engineer,  W.  H.  Shock,  being  impressed 
with  the  merits  of  the  iron-clads  furnished  the  govern 
ment  by  Mr.  Eads,  wrote  to  the  Hon.  Henry  T.  Blow, 
of  St.  Louis,  the  following  letter,  which  Mr.  Blow  pub 
lished  in  the  Missouri  Democrat,  with  a  preface,  from 
which  I  take  the  following  extract : 

"  It  has  been  the  good  fortune  of  our  city  to  have  fur 
nished  to  the  government  an  iron-clad  navy,  whose 
history,  marked  throughout  by  the  most  brilliant  ex 
ploits,  has  no  parallel  in  this  age  of  invention  and 

progress." 

**  FLAGSHIP  HARTFORD, 

"WESTERN    GULF    BLOCKADING    SQUADRON, 
"  ENGINEER'S  DEP'T,  OFF  MOBILE  BAY, 

"  August  n,  1864. 

"  HON.  HENRY  T.  BLOW,  ST.  Louis,  Mo.  : 

"My  Dear  Sir:     Last  Friday,  the  5th,  we  met  the 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       155 

enemy  in  Mobile  Bay,  and  it  was  comparatively  short 
work — say  one  and  a  half  hours — before  he  was  ours, 
with  the  monster  ram  Tennessee  lying  quietly  under  the 
protection  of  the  Admiral's  flagship,  the  Hartford,  a 
mass  of  invulnerability,  with  the  old  flag  waving  over 

her. 

***** 

"  You  are  doubtless  aware  that  it  was  confidently  pre 
dicted  by  some,  that  the  Chickasaw  and  Winnebago 
could  not  go  to  sea  ;  and  further  that  their  armor  was 
not  sufficiently  heavy  to  contend  against  heavy  guns  ; 
that  they  were  calculated  only  for  river  service,  etc. 
Against  each  and  all  of  these  propositions  I  stoutly  con 
tended,  and  expressed  my  views  to  Assistant  Secretary 
Fox,  while  in  Washington,  giving  it  as  my  opinion  that 
they  could  not  only  go  to  sea,  but  render  efficient  service 
at  the  attack  on  Mobile.  Shortly  after  my  return  to  New 
Orleans,  I  was  agreeably  astonished  to  see  them  coming 
to  anchor  off  the  city.  They  were  soon  prepared  for 

sea  and  sent  over  to  the  Admiral. 

***** 

"  The  Chickasazu  in  the  meanwhile  was  quietly  watch 
ing  the  movements  about  Fort  Morgan  and  the  rebel 
gunboats  close  by,  and  thus  the  time  was  disposed  of 
until  Friday,  the  5th,  when  the  squadron  was  arranged 

in  line  of  battle  for  final  attack. 

***** 

"  Soon  the  Tccumseh  went  down  from  a  torpedo, 
she  having  fired  but  twice.  The  Manhattan,  for  some 
reason,  seemed  to  work  rather  sluggishly.  She  suc 
ceeded,  however,  in  getting  a  fifteen-inch  shot  well 
directed  on  the  side  of  the  casemate  of  the  ram  Tennes 
see  which  crushed  in  the  iron  plating,  broke  through  the 
wooden  backing,  and  was  turned  off.  This  shot  showed 
the  great  power  of  resistance  which  this  monitor  pos 
sessed. 


156  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  It  was  soon  evident  that  whatever  else  had  to  be 
done,  the  ram  Tennessee  was  either  to  be  destroyed  or 
captured.  That  was  a  fixed  fact,  and  a  portion  of  the 
squadron  went  at  her  with  a  will.  She  was  rammed, 
she  was  jammed,  and  broadside  after  broadside  was 
hurled  at  her,  which  rebounded  from  her  side  and  fell 
harmless  in  the  water. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  Chickasaw  was  playing  around 
her,  endeavoring  to  find  a  weak  spot  if  one  existed.  It 
was  soon  discovered  that  she  had  one,  and  that  was  the 
after-gun  port.  Into  this  the  Chickasazu  sent  a  shell, 
which  killed  part  of  the  gun  crew,  and  wounded  Admi 
ral  Buchanan.  Another  disabled  the  steering  apparatus, 
and  up  went  the  white  flag.  The  rebels  did  everything 
to  shake  the  little  Chickasaw  off,  but  it  was  impossible  ; 
she  held  on  with  a  tenacity  that  secured  success. 

"In  the  fight  the  Tennessee  lost  her  smoke-pipe.  I 
have  had  a  new  one  made,  and  by  this  time  the  '  boast 
of  the  Confederate  navy'  is  battering  the  walls  of  Fort 
Morgan,  with  the  stars  and  stripes  waving  over  her, 
having  in  the  last  few  days  changed  her  base  of  opera 
tions.  The  Chickasaw  and  Winnebago  are  both  engaged 
in  the  same  good  work. 

"  I  beg  you  will   remember  me  most  kindly  to  your 
family,  and  to  my  St.  Louis  friends  generally,  and 
"  Believe  me  as  ever, 
"  Yours  most  truly, 

"  W.  II.  SHOCK, 

"  Fleet  Engineer  " 

From  the  "  Chapter  in  History "  before  alluded  to, 
as  published  by  Mr.  Eads  in  defence  of  his  monitors,  I 
copy  these  closing  sentences  : 

"The  Chickasazu  obtained  a  position  under  the  stern 
of  the  rebel  ram,  and  poured  in  such  a  storm  of  eleven- 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       157 

inch  solid  steel  and  cast-iron  shot  that  the  flag  of  the 
ram  was  finally  hauled  down  to  her. 

"  Throughout  the  fight  the  Tennessee  found  it  impos 
sible  to  o-et  out  of  the  raking  fire  in  which  she  was  held 

O  O 

by  this  iron-clad,  in  which  position  the  latter  delivered 
fifty-two  eleven-inch  shot  at  her.  Her  commander, 
George  H.  Perkins,  was  handsomely  complimented  by 
Farragut." 

This  "  Chapter  in  History"  was  copied  into  the  Con 
cord  Statesman,  with  the  following  editorial  comment: 

"  TOO    MODEST. 

"There  is  an  article  in  this  paper  entitled  'A  Chapter 
in  Elistory,'  which  we  have  printed  because  of  its  gen 
eral  interest,  and  especially  because  of  its  few  words  of 
just  mention  for  our  townsman,  Commander  George  H. 
Perkins  of  the  navy. 

"The  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  was  one  of  the  great  bat 
tles  of  the  war,  and  no  ship's  commander  engaged  in  it 
was  entitled  to  half  as  much  credit  for  gallantry,  good 
judgment,  and  persistency  as  Perkins.  He  captured 
the  Tennessee,  and  lay  beside  her  modestly  waiting  for 
an  officer  of  higher  rank  to  come  up  in  his  ship  and 
receive  the  surrender.  By  this  the  reader  will  infer, 
what  is  the  fact,  that  Commander  Perkins  is  as  modest 
as  he  is  brave.  His  record  all  through  the  war  is  of 
the  very  highest  character." 

Accompanying  this  is  a  diagram  of  the  vessels  as 
they  advanced  to  the  attack  in  Mobile  Bay,  and  the 
spot  where  the  Tennessee  surrendered  ;  also  Forts  Pow 
ell  and  Gaines. 

As  soon  as  George  has  a  moment's  rest  from  the  toil 
and  turmoil  of  the  fight,  he  writes  his  mother  the  fol 
lowing  line  : 


158       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  U.  S.  IRON-CLAD  CHICKASAW, 

"  MOBILE  BAY,  August  6,  1864. 
4 k  DEAR  MOTHER: 

"AH  right. 

"Your  affectionate  son, 

"  GEORGE." 
August  8th  he  writes  : 

"My  DEAR  MOTHER: 

"  I  have  but  a  moment  to  write.  I  only  want  to  tell 
you  I  am  well.  We  had  a  desperate  fight  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  5th.  No  one  was  hurt  on  board  my  vessel, 
but  the  squadron  lost  a  good  many.  Captain  Craven 
of  the  Tecumseh  was  blown  up  by  a  torpedo  just  ahead 
of  me.  I  will  write  you  more  about  it  when  I  have 
time.  I  had  a  hard  fight  with  the  rebel  ram  Tennessee, 
and  have  been  highly  complimented  by  the  Admiral 
and  other  old  officers  for  the  part  I  took  in  the  engage 
ment.  I  have  been  fighting  forts  every  day  since,  and 
Fort  Gaines  surrendered  this  morning.  I  shelled  Fort 
Powell  the  afternoon  of  the  5th,  and  during  the  night 
the  rebels  blew  it  up.  I  think  Fort  Morgan  will  sur 
render  soon.  The  other  iron-clads  are  more  or  less 
disabled.  I  told  you  I  would  come  out  all  right ! 

"  As  you  like  to  hear  all  the  complimentary  things 
about  me,  I  must  tell  you  that  I  have  the  credit  of  tak 
ing  the  rebel  ram  Tennessee  and  of  wounding  Admiral 
Buchanan,  and  doing  all  the  damage  that  caused  her 
surrender. 

"  Captain  Jenkins  of  the  Richmond  told  Admiral  Far- 
ragut  that  I  ought  to  be  promoted  at  once  for  my  gal 
lantry  in  this  fight.  I  only  tell  you  this  because  I 
thought  you  would  like  to  hear  it.  It  is  nothing  now 
but  fight,  fight,  fight,  all  the  time,  so  excuse  haste. 
Will  write  you  again  soon.  Love  to  all. 

"Your  affectionate  son, 

"  GEORGE. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  159 

"P.  S. — As  soon  as  Fort  Morgan  surrenders,  I  go 
to  Dog  River  Bar,  and  attack  the  batteries  there." 

"  U.  S.  IRON-CLAD  CHICKASAW, 
"MOBILE  BAY,  August  n,  1864. 

"  It  is  a  rainy,  stormy  day,  and  we  are  lying  quiet 
about  fifteen  hundred  yards  from  Fort  Morgan.  The 
fort  has  not  surrendered  yet,  but  must  in  a  short  time. 
The  army  has  landed  in  the  rear,  and  is  putting  up  bat 
teries  about  five  hundred  yards  distant  from  it.  We 
have  not  opened  on  the  fort  to-day,  and  so  far  not  a 
single  gun  has  been  fired.  The  rebels  are  all  inside, 
and  we  can  see  each  other  very  plainly.  I  do  not 
think  they  like  the  looks  of  the  iron-dads.  I  have  no 
idea  whether  the  Admiral  intends  attacking  Mobile  ^ 
or  not.  This  was  a  brilliant  victory,  and  should  be  fol 
lowed  up. 

"  I  suppose  you  have  all  felt  anxious  about  me  lately, 
but  I  feel  much  better  now  than  if  I  had  come  home. 
The  Admiral  and  all  give  me  credit  for  the  manner  in 
which  I  fought  my  ship,  and  Admiral  Buchanan  said 
himself  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  me,  he  should  have 
escaped.  I  have  been  hard  at  work  since  I  have  been 
in  here.  I  expect  to  go  to  Dog  River  Bar  to  attack  the 
batteries  there  to-morrow. 

"The  reason  my  ship  is  of  so  much  importance  is 
because  the  other  monitors  cannot  work  their  turrets. 
I  cannot  help  feeling  very  much  flattered  at  the  confi 
dence  that  is  placed  in  me  and  at  the  things  that  are 
said  about  me.  I  suspect  you  would  think  I  was  flat 
tered  too  much  !  I  do  not  know  when  I  shall  come 
home,  but  not,  I  suppose,  till  the  fighting  is  over  here." 

"U.  S.  IRON-CLAD  CHICKASAW, 

"  FOUR  MILES  BELOW  MOBILE  CITY, 

"August  16,  1864. 
"  I  have  been  hard  at  work  since  I  have  been  in  this 


l6o  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

ba\T,  fighting  almost  continually.  We  are  all  nearly 
used  up  on  board  this  vessel.  As  mine  is  the  only 
effective  iron-clad,  I  am  obliged  to  be  constantly  in 
motion. 

"  The  city  and  its  defences  are  now  in  plain  sight  of 
me — its  iron-clads,  batteries,  rams,  and  all.  Yesterday 
I  had  a  little  fight  with  the  rams  across  the  obstructions. 
The  channel  to  Mobile  is  filled  up  with  spiles,  sunken 
vessels,  and  torpedoes.  The  rebs  have  two  very  good- 
looking  rams,  and  the  obstructions  are  formidable  obsta 
cles  which  it  may  be  a  good  deal  of  trouble  for  me  to 
clear,  as  I  am  now  on  the  advance. 

"For  your  sakes  I  am  happy  to  say  the  Chickasaw 
has  won  for  herself  quite  a  name.  I  was  mighty  glad 
to  get  letters  from  home  to-day,  for  it  had  been  such  a 
long  while  since  I  had  heard.  Do  write,  for  now  the 
mails  will  probably  come  with  some  regularity,  and  I 
am  always  thinking  of  you  all  and  longing  to  hear  from 
you.  I  am  pretty  well,  but  a  little  New  Hampshire  air 
would  improve  me." 

"  CHICKASAW,  August  17,  1864. 

"  I  am  now  almost  near  enough  to  shell  Mobile,  and 
I  have  plenty  of  excitement.  Yesterday  two  of  my 
boats  had  quite  a  little  fight  with  some  guerillas  on 
shore.  The  Admiral  says  that  he  shall  take  Mobile 
soon  and  that  I  shall  '  come,  too.'  Fort  Morgan  has 
not  surrendered  yet,  but  this  does  not  affect  us  much,  as 
we  can  get  all  our  supplies  through  Grant's  Pass." 

"AuousT  18,  1864. 

"We  are  still  having  lively  times  around  Fort  Mor 
gan.  Last  night  a  couple  of  rebel  rams  came  out,  and 
we  lay  looking  at  each  other  all  night.  This  morning 
I  expected  a  fight,  but  they  went  back  to  the  city. 

"  I  have  not  been  very  well  for  a  day  or  so.      I   have 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       l6l 

to  be  around  all  the  time,  day  and  night,  and  these  hot 
iron-clads  use  me  up.  I  am  writing  now  on  board  Cap 
tain  Jewett's  ship,  the  Metacomet.  He  is  a  great  friend 
of  mine,  and  a  mighty  fascinating  fellow." 

"AUGUST  20,  1864. 

"  Have  just  received  your  letters.  I  was  so  glad  to 
get  a  letter  from  Aunt  Harriet,  and  to  know  that  she  is 
with  you.  I  am  so  sorry  that  I  cannot  be  at  home 
while  she  is  there,  for  it  is  such  a  long  time  since  I 
have  seen  her.  I  shall  write  her  a  long  letter  as  soon 
as  I  can. 

"I  am  ordered  to  shell  Fort  Morgan,  and  I  shall 
probably  be  under  the  fort  two  or  three  days.  I  cannot 
write  more  now  ;  but  you  will  hear  as  soon  as  possible 
if  I  am  not  all  right.  Give  Aunt  Harriet  a  good  kiss 
for  me.  I  shall  go  and  see  her  if  ever  I  get  home 
again.  Shelling  Fort  Morgan  will  be  such  hot  work 
that  I  hope  it  will  surrender  soon." 

"  CHICKASAW,  August  24,  1864. 

"Fort  Morgan  surrendered  yesterday,  and  I  have 
been  having  a  rest  to-day.  We  were  very  glad  of  the 
surrender  on  board  this  ship,  for  all  my  officers  and 
men  were  getting  perfectly  worn  out  from  having  been 
so  constantly  under  fire.  And  now  for  Mobile  !  The 
Admiral  is  in  a  hurry  for  me  to  get  up  the  bay,  for,  as 
I  have  said  before,  I  am  the  only  effective  iron-clad 
he  has. 

"You  know,  dear  mother,  I  have  to  tell  you  all  my 
compliments,  so  I  must  write  what  Captain  Strong  of 
the  Monongahela  has  just  said  to  me.  He  is  going  to 
Washington  on  official  business,  and  as  he  bade  me 
good- by,  he  said,  «  When  I  come  back,  Perkins,  I  shall 
bring  your  promotion  with  me  !'  Yes,  it  is  true  that  I 


1 62       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

get  much  praise  and  flattery  for  my  success,  and  I  am 
glad  for  vour  sake.  The  Admiral  speaks  of  me  in  the 
highest  terms  to  every  one. 

"  Captain  Jenkins,  of  the  Richmond,  who  is  one  of 
the  kindest  and  best  of  men,  talks  about  me  as  enthusi 
astically  as  if  he  was  my  father,  and  always  calls  me 
*  his  pet.'  After  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay,  he  told 
Admiral  Farragut  on  no  account  to  let  me  go  home  till 
all  the  fighting  here  was  over,  for  they  could  not  get 
along  without  me. 

"  The  other  day  when  I  was  sick  he  sent  his  surgeon 
up,  on  a  steamer  from  the  lower  bay,  to  take  care  of 
me,  and  to  bring  me  a  lot  of  good  things  to  eat. 
I  called  on  him  to-day,  and  he  asked  if  my  sisters 
would  not  thank  him  for  making  a  'hero'  of  me. 
Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  tell  you  all  these  tilings  ;  but  I 
do  like  to  have  you  know  of  any  pleasant  or  successful 
thing  that  happens  to  me. 

"I  am  getting  very  anxious  to  hear  from  home. 
I  have  heard  something  good  about  Hamilton.  Captain 
Johnson,  who  is  stationed  at  the  naval  school,  wrote  a 
friend,  who  told  me,  that  Hamilton  was  a  very  smart 
boy,  and  would  make  a  brilliant  officer.  Well,  I  wish 
I  could  see  him  and  all  of  you  to-night. 

"  I  was  talking  to  the  Admiral  to-day — he  talks  a 
great  deal  to  me  when  I  go  to  see  him — when,  all  at 
once,  he  fainted  away.  He  is  not  very  well,  and  is  all 
tired  out.  It  gave  me  quite  a  shock,  and  shows  how 
exhausted  he  is,  and  his  health  is  not  very  good  any 
way.  He  is  a  mighty  fine  old  fellow.  I  want  to  come 
home  just  to  tell  you  about  all  I  have  been  doing.  It 
has  been  so  exciting  that  it  seems  as  if  I  had  a  great 
deal  to  say.  If  I  could  only  talk  instead  of  writing, 
I  could  tell  you  all  so  much  better." 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  163 

"  CHICKASAW,  August  31,  1864. 

"I  have  not  been  very  well.  These  iron-dads  are 
pretty  rough  on  a  fellow  ;  they  are  hot,  and  have  no 
comforts.  I  often  think  of  my  nice  little  cabin  on  the 
Sciota,  and  of  her  officers  and  crew  who  seemed  so 
fond  of  me.  But  this  is  a  fine  command,  and  much  as 
I  want  to  come  home,  I  shall  keep  it  till  the  fighting 
is  over.  I  am  only  waiting  till  the  repairs  on  the 
machinery  are  completed  to  go  up  to  Mobile.  The 
army  is  landing  and  marching  up.  I  do  not  know 
what  the  Admiral  will  do,  but  he  says  he  is  waiting  for 
this  ship  to  be  ready. 

"When  I  have  been  up  the  bay  I  have  been  near 
enough  to  have  a  good  view  of  Mobile,  and  the  rebels 
may  give  us  some  trouble  yet,  for  they  are  strengthen 
ing  their  defences.  But  now,  though,  there  is  only  one 
way  for  it  all  to  end, — they  are  as  completely  shut  off 
from  the  bay  as  an  inland  town,  and  the  arm}'-  is  clos 
ing  in  the  rest.  . 

"  We  received  the  papers  to-day  describing  our  fight 
in  the  bay,  and  I  see  the  Ckickasaw  is  spoken  well  of 
by  every  one.  I  am  glad  of  it,  for  I  know  it  will  please 
you.  I  am  getting  anxious  for  more  letters  and  more 
news  from  home.  How  does  Frank  like  the  gun  that 
I  sent  him  from  New  Orleans?" 

"CHICKASAW,  September  9,  1864. 
"  I  enclose  you  a  list  of  such  mementoes  of  the  fights 
which  I  have  been  in,  as  I  have  sent  home,  and  wish 
to  have  kept.  In  the  first  place,  one  of  the  pistols, 
which  I  sent  home  after  the  fight  at  New  Orleans, 
came  from  the  forts,  and  the  other  came  from  the  rebel 
gunboat  Governor  Moore,  which  surrendered  to  the 
Cayuga\  the  double-barrelled  shotgun,  which  I  sent  to 
Hamilton,  came  from  the  Chalmette  regiment;  the 


164  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

rebel  flag  came  from  New  Orleans  before  the  surrender 
of  the  city  ;  the  sword  came  from  a  New  Hampshire 
captain  in  the  rebel  service  ;  the  last  double-barrelled 
gun  was  taken  near  Donaldsonville,  on  the  Mississippi, 
where  I  was  fired  into  and  nearly  destroyed  on  the 
New  London. 

"The  Whitworth  shells  are  curiosities,  owing  to 
their  construction,  and  the  long  range  of  the  gun, 
which  throws  them  easily  five  miles.  These  guns  are 
of  English  make,  and  the  one  that  was  at  Fort  Morgan 
annoyed  the  blockading  fleet  more  than  anything  else. 
There  is  also  a  pistol  that  was  on  the  rebel  ram 
Tennessee,  and  a  pistol  from  Fort  Gaines,  and  a  shot 
from  Fort  Powell.  I  will  send  you  soon  a  sword  taken 
from  a  field-officer  in  Fort  Morgan,  and  with  it  the 
rebel  flag  that  floated  over  the  fort  during  the  entire 
bombardment.  This  latter  I  obtained  in  a  rather 
remarkable  manner. 

"The  sailors  from  this  ship  drew  down  the  flag,  and 
one  of  them  seized  it  and  hid  it  in  his  bosom.  There 
was  not  much  left  of  it — it  was  so  riddled  and  torn. 
The  sailor  brought  it  to  me,  saying  that  no  one  had  a 
right  to  it  but  the  captain  of  the  Chickasaw.  I  hardly 
knew  what  to  do  about  it,  but  he  seemed  so  earnest  I 
could  not  refuse  to  take  it  from  him.  It  is  a  mere  frag 
ment  anyway,  so  I  send  it  home.  I  wish  you  would 
have  all  these  things  kept  together,  for  perhaps  some 
day,  somebody  would  like  to  see  them,  and  while  I  live 
I  shall  like  to  have  a  look  at  them  once  in  a  while." 

The  New  Orleans  Era,  of  Tuesday  morning,  August 
30,  1864,  says  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Morgan  : 

"  It  was  a  glorious  sight  to  see  the  gallant  Captain 
Perkins,  in  the  Chickasaw,  nearly  all  the  morning 
almost  touching  the  wharf,  and  pouring  in  his  terrible 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  165 

missiles,  two  at  a  time,  and  making  bricks  and  mortar 
fly  in  all  directions,  then  moving  a  little  ahead  or  astern 
to  get  a  fresh  place. 

44  He  stayed  there  till  nearly  noon,  when  he  hauled 
off  to  cool  his  guns  and  give  his  men  some  refreshment. 
In  the  afternoon  he  took  his  ship  in  again  and  turret 
after  turret  was  emptied  at  the  fort." 

George  remained  in  command  of  the  Chickasa^u  until 
after  the  fall  of  Mobile  in  the  spring  of  1865.  He 
wrote  home  frequently,  and  his  letters  show  the  pride 
which  he  took  in  his  ship,  which  was  called  the 
"  crack  "  iron-clad,  and  was  an  object  of  interest  and 
curiosity.  Among  them  on  board  they  invented  a 
protection  against  torpedoes,  and  a  picture  of  the 
Chickasaw  with  this  attachment  appeared  in  Harper's 
Weekly. 

While  Admiral  Farragut  remained  in  command  at 
Mobile  he  made  several  visits  to  the  Chickasaw  and 
praised  the  order  in  which  it  was  kept,  and  spoke  of 
the  dependence  he  placed  upon  it,  and  of  his  confidence 
in  its  commander.  He  was  most  kindly  and  flattering 
in  his  intercourse  with  George,  and  praised  him  warmly 
to  others. 

Years  after,  in  the  organization  of  the  44  Society  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  Gulf,"  Admiral  Farragut's 
secretary  writes  : 

44  It  will  be  most  agreeable  to  Admiral  Farragut  to 
have  Commander  Perkins  associated  with  him  on  the 
Committee  of  the  Society.  He  is  one  of  his  favorite 
officers,  having  served  most  gallantly  with  him  in 
Mobile  Bay,  and  at  all  times  proving  himself  a  most 
accomplished  gentleman  and  officer." 

George's  old  commander  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
Captain  Armstrong,  writes  to  him  from  New  Orleans  : 


1 66       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  Mrs.  Armstrong  and  Admiral  Farragut  had  a  long 
talk  about  you  ;  both  belong  to  your  admiration  society, 
and  your  ears  must  have  tingled." 

I  have  once  before  in  these  pages  recorded  what  was 
Admiral  Farragut's  latest  expression  with  regard  to  my 
brother,  but  as  the  letter  lies  before  me  now,  I  cannot 
help  copying  the  whole  sentence  : 

"Mr.  McRitchie  tells  me  that  Farragut  said  to  him 
less  than  a  month  before  the  Admiral's  death,  when 
talking  about  the  Gulf  squadron,  that  Captain  Perkins 
was  young  and  handsome,  and  that  no  braver  man 
ever  trod  a  ship's  deck  ;  that  his  work  in  the  Chickasaw 
did  more  to  capture  the  Tennessee  than  all  the  guns  of 
the  fleet  put  together." 

The  commander  of  the  Chickasaw  earned  a  reputa 
tion  for  her  management,  in  other  respects  than  that  of 
her  handling  in  warlike  manoeuvres.  I  have  letters 
and  reports  of  official  inspection,  and  comparisons  of 
estimates,  which  prove  that  she  was  always  kept  in 
order  and  ready  for  duty  at  much  less  expense  than 
any  of  the  other  monitors.  The  letters  express  sur 
prise,  and  contain  compliments  on  its  commander's 
ability,  and  manner  of  doing  this.  Indeed,  all  the 
ships,  with  which  he  has  been  connected,  have  had  a 
superlative  reputation  for  neatness  and  order. 

George  remained  in  command  of  the  CJl^ckasa^v  for 
more  than  a  year.  It  was  not  a  very  comfortable 
home.  The  heat  of  the  furnaces  made  it  impossible  to 
stay  in  the  cabin  for  any  length  of  time.  He  finally 
arranged  a  tent  to  live  in  on  deck,  where,  at  least,  he 
could  have  fresh  air;  but  this  did  not  prove  a  very 
secure  protection  when  the  autumn  and  winter  gales 
began  to  blow.  They  would  frequently  take  off  the 
whole  affair,  and  he  and  his  belongings  would  be 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  167 

deluged  with  rain  and  nearly  blown  overboard.  When 
nothing  else  was  doing,  he  would  resort  to  his  old 
amusement  of  hunting,  and  for  much  the  same  reason, 
namely,  to  supply  his  table.  Having  a  good  steward 
he  achieved  fame  in  a  new  direction,  that  of  an  Amphi 
tryon  ;  and  officers,  both  of  the  navy  and  army,  found 
at  his  table  a  grateful  variety  from  their  usual  scanty 
fare. 

July  10,  1865,  the  commander  of  the  Chickasazv  was 
detached,  and  returned  home  to  enjoy  his  well-earned 
leave  of  absence.  He  \vas  received  with  enthusiasm 
by  all  who  knew  him,  and  complimentary  letters 
poured  in  on  him  and  on  his  family.  He  was  at  that 
time  the  embodiment  of  an  attractive  naval  officer,  and 
might  have  figured  in  the  pages  of  romance.  He  was 
possessed  of  the  high  spirits,  the  daring,  the  confidence 
in  others,  and,  as  was  said  of  him,  the  "  frank,  sailor- 
like  way  and  bonhomie,  which  excites  the  admiration 
of  all:"  It  is  not  my  prejudice  which  says  this  ;  it  is 
but  an  epitome  of  the  remarks  made  about  him  at  that 
time,  and  which  still  confront  me  from  letters,  now  fast 
growing  yellow  with  age. 

A  brother  officer  from  New  Hampshire  writes  me  at 
this  time,  and  is  most  anxious  that  "The  state  of  New 
Hampshire  should  do  itself  the  honor  of  having  a 
painting  hung  up  in  its  capitol,  representing  Perkins, 
standing  at  the  bow  of  the  little  Cayuga,  literally  pilot 
ing  the  fleet  through  the  hurricane  of  shot  and  shell 
in  that  battle  of  New  Orleans,  which  was,  in  some 
respects,  the  grandest  naval  achievement  of  the  war. 
Certainly  our  state  house,  where  naval  subjects  are 
entirely  unrepresented,  has  no  worthier  or  more  heroic 
subject  on  its  walls." 

Again,  later,  the  same  officer  writes:  "No  state  in 
the  Union  was  better  represented  in  the  naval  field 


1 68       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

during  the  war  than  was  New  Hampshire,  in  the 
person  and  deeds  of  Captain  Perkins.  Had  he  been 
an  army  man,  especially  a  volunteer,  his  portrait  would 
long  since  have  been  hung,  and  his  praises  continually 
sounded  from  one  end  of  the  state  to  another."  This 
officer  returns  frequently,  in  his  letters,  to  the  subject 
of  the  portrait  for  the  state  house,  and  seems  to  desire 
earnestly  that  his  own  state  should  do  George  this 
honor. 

Another  friend  writes  of  him  :  "  He  is  a  rare  charac 
ter.  Every  one  will  rejoice  when  he  receives  the 
reward  which  is  his  due,  for  every  one  loves  him.  He 
is  fitted  always  to  take  the  lead,  and  makes  no  ene 
mies." 

When  my  brother  returned  North  in  the  summer  of 
sixty-five,  his  friends  urged  that  the  members  of  con 
gress  from  New  Hampshire  should  be  applied  to,  and 
asked  to  demand  from  the  government  a  recognition  of 
his  services.  But  this  was  repugnant  to  his  feelings  ; 
for  it  seemed  to  him  that  such  acknowledgment  would 
and  should  come  spontaneously.  In  answer  to  the 
remonstrances  of  his  friends,  he  would  say,  "  Well,  I 
shall  get  my  thirty  numbers  anyway,"  an  advance  in 
rank  to  that  degree  being  one  of  the  rewards  prescribed 
by  naval  ruling  for  gallantry  in  action. 

That  winter  he  was  ordered  as  superintendent  of 
iron-clads  in  the  harbor  of  New  Orleans,  and  the  next 
year,  in  May,  1867,  he  was  sent  on  a  three  years' 
cruise  in  the  Pacific,  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Lacka- 
ivanna. 

As  Farragut's  conduct  began  to  attract  attention  in 
not  securing  for  the  officers  who  served  under  him  any 
acknowledgment  from  the  government,  or  any  special 
promotion,  this  neglect  on  his  part  was  greatly  com 
mented  on.  All  turned  to  my  brother,  and  his  war 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  169 

record,  as  an  instance  of  such  shining  merit,  that  it 
must  be  plain  to  all,  he  could  not  be  overlooked,  that 
reward  in  his  case  would  be  but  the  simplest  act  of 
justice.  The  advancement  of  thirty  numbers  in  his 
rank  was  looked  upon  as  a  certainty,  and  as  he  was 
about  to  leave  the  country  in  the  Lackawanna^  Ad 
miral  Jenkins  writes  to  wish  him  "  A  pleasant  and 
profitable  cruise,  and  the  thirty  numbers  to  which  you 
are  entitled  for  your  services." 

I  will  quote  here  a  letter  from  the  same  admiral, 
written  more  than  two  years  previously,  which  will 
prove  how  confidently  the  officers  of  the  fleet  in  Mobile 
Bay,  ever  after  the  action,  expected  that  by  every  gov 
ernment  mail,  or  by  every  officer  who  came  out  on 
detail,  would  be  sent  promotion  and  thanks  from  the 
government  to  the  commander  of  the  Chickasaw  : 

"  U.  S.  S.  RICHMOND, 
"  MOBILE  LOWER  BAY,  October  5,  1864. 
"  MY  DEAR  BOY: 

"  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  of  your  approach  in  your 
iron  cage.  I  send  over  papers,  although  they  may  not 
be  as  late  as  you  have.  I  hope  with  all  my  heart  that 
before  many  weeks  you  will  receive  from  the  President 
a  substantial  testimonial  of  your  gallantry,  coolness, 
and  good  judgment  in  our  action  on  the  5th,  and  yours 
especially  with  Gaines,  Powell,  and  Morgan. 
"  I  am,  sincerely  your  friend, 

"  THORNTON  A.  JENKINS, 
"Commander,  U.  S.  TVV 

A  story  is  told  of  my  brother,  at  the  time  of  his  join 
ing  the  Lackawanna.)  which  gives  perhaps  as  good  an 
idea  of  the  quickness  of  his  wit  as  any  one  which  I 
know  of  him,  or  have  been  told.  It  is  a  favorite 


170       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

anecdote  among  his  naval  comrades,  and  I  have  been 
assured  that  it  should  not  be  omitted  from  any  sketch 
which  pretends  to  preserve  his  characteristics. 

While  the  Lackawanna  was  fitting  out  in  New  York 
harbor,  her  captain  thought  fit  to  absent  himself  at  his 
own  pleasure,  though  doubtless  it  was  with  the  knowl 
edge  and  consent  of  the  commandant  of  the  yard, 
Admiral  Godon.  This  left  all  the  task  of  preparing 
the  ship  for  sea  on  my  brother's  shoulders,  and  as  he 
had  been  anticipating  a  week's  leave  of  absence  before 
starting  on  the  long  voyage,  he  found  his  chance  fast 
slipping  away.  He  therefore  resolved  to  take  it, 
whether  or  no.  Naval  discipline,  just  after  the  war, 
was  not  what  it  is  nowadays. 

Admiral  Stringham  was,  at  that  time,  port  admiral, 
and  Admiral  Godon,  commandant.  The  latter  had 
rather  a  grudge  against  George  ever  since  the  old  coast 
of  Africa  days,  because  my  brother  had  determined  not 
to  be  delayed  about  getting  the  Sumter  ready  for  her 
return  vo}^age,  and  had  played  the  part  of  "  the  early 
bird  who  caught  the  worm;"  or,  in  other  words,  had 
gone  to  the  coal  station  so  quickly  upon  the  squadron 
getting  orders  for  home,  that  he  had  coaled  ship  and 
started  before  Godon,  then  flag-officer  of  that  station, 
had  arrived,  and  the  flagship,  therefore,  had  to  wait  for 
the  next  supplies. 

The  absence  of  the  captain  and  the  executive  officer 
of  the  Lackawanna  left  the  navigator  in  command,  and 
when,  one  morning,  Admiral  Godon  sent  for  the  com 
manding  officer  of  the  Lackawanna,  the  navigator  pre 
sented  himself,  and,  in  answer  to  Godon's  remark,  "I 
wish  to  see  the  commanding  officer  of  the  Lacka- 
wanna,'"  answered,  "  I  am  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  Lackawanna."  "Where  is  Lieutenant  Perkins?" 
said  the  admiral.  "  On  shore,  sir,"  said  the  navigator. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      17  I 

"  Very  well.  Tell  him,  when  he  comes  aboard,  that  I 
wish  to  see  him." 

The  next  day  the  admiral  sent  again  for  the  "  com 
manding  officer  of  the  Lackaiuanna."  Again  the  navi 
gator  appeared.  "  I  don't  want  you,"  said  the  admiral. 
"  I  want  the  commanding  officer  of  the  Lackaiuanna." 
"I  am  the  commanding  officer  of  the  Lacka-wanna" 
again  answered  the  navigator.  "  Where  is  Lieutenant 
Perkins?"  screamed  Godon,  in  the  high  voice  always 
peculiar  to  him,  but  now  raised  to  a  much  higher  pitch 
by  wrath.  "  On  shore,  sir."  "  How  long  has  he  been 
ashore?"  shouted  the  admiral.  "About  four  days, 
sir,"  answered  the  navigator.  "That'll  do,  sir,"  said 
the  angry  admiral.  "  When  he  comes  back  tell  him  to 
report  to  me." 

As  soon  as  possible  the  navigator  communicated  the 
state  of  things  to  George,  and  warned  him  of  "  shoals 
ahead."  But  George  finished  his  week's  leave  tran 
quilly,  and,  having  returned  to  the  ship,  proceeded  to 
report  to  the  commandant.  He  was  coldly  received  by 
that  officer,  who  reproved  him  with  great  severity,  and 
wound  up  his  remarks  by  saying,  in  a  fiercely  ironical 
tone,  "  Now,  Lieutenant  Perkins,  one  of  three  people 
is  responsible  for  this  irregular  proceeding, — this  gross 
neglect  of  the  duties  of  an  officer  while  his  ship  is  in 
this  yard, — and  it  is  either  you,  Admiral  Stringham,  or 
myself.  One  of  us  must  be  subjected  to  trial  by  court- 
martial,  and  be  prepared  to  stand  its  sentence.  Now, 
sir,  which  shall  it  be,  sir?  Which  shall  it  be?" 

George  approached  the  angry  official  in  a  most  affec 
tionate  manner,  and,  with  a  bland  smile,  remarked, 
confidentially,  "Between  you  and  me,  Admiral,  let's 
put  it  all  on  old  Stringham  !" 

This  was  more  than  Godon's  sense  of  fun  could 
resist.  His  anger  vanished  in  an  uncontrollable  burst 


172  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

of  laughter,  and  the  executive  officer  of  the  Lacka- 
wanna  pursued  his  further  course  unmolested.  In  due 
time  the  ship  was  ready  for  sea,  and  George  received 
high  praise  for  her  thorough  preparation,  despite  his 
week's  leave  of  absence. 

Acting  Lieutenant  Hamilton,  who  served  with  my 
brother  on  the  Chickasaw,  was  a  very  fine  man,  of  an 
excellent  family,  and  greatly  respected.  He  entered 
the  war  from  conscientious  motives,  and  meeting  my 
brother  and  liking  him,  gladly  volunteered  for  the 
battle  of  Mobile  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Chickasaw. 
He  deplored,  with  all  his  heart,  the  youthful  modesty 
which  influenced  its  commander  to  defer  to  Captain 
LeRoy  of  the  Ossipee,  in  the  matter  of  the  Tennessee's 
surrender.  Among  the  letters,  both  of  praise  and 
remonstrance,  which  were  showered  upon  him  during 
these  years,  I  quote  from  two  of  Mr.  Hamilton's,  writ 
ten  at  different  dates  : 

* '  MY  DEAR  CAPTAIN  : 

"The  last  Army  and  Navy  Journal  has  my  name 
among  the  list  of  promotions,  and  I  am  glad  that  it 
is  dated  soon  enough  to  report  it  as  '  of  the  Chicka 
saw. ^  For  me,  the  Mobile  cruise,  with  its  hardships 
and  pleasures,  rams  and  obstructions,  has  been  one  of 
great  interest.  By  the  excitement  I  gained  my  health, 
and,  by  your  kind  interest  in  my  behalf,  my  promotion. 

"  Even  in  her  retirement,  the  old  Chickasaw  main 
tains  her  prestige,  for  she  is  clean,  and  in  better  order 
than  any  of  the  other  monitors.  History  must  record 
the  fact  that  the  cruise  of  the  Chickasaw  was  the  most 
interesting  and  successful  of  the  war.  I  hope  you  will 
soon  receive  the  promotion  you  deserve. 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

'*  WILLIAM  HAMILTON." 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  173 

A  year  later  he  writes  : 

"  Perkins,  I  am  proud  of  my  connection  with  the 
Chickasaw.  Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail  !  The 
old  Chickasaw  is  being  immortalized  in  prose  and  verse 
as  the  vessel  that  did  the  solid  work  in  Mobile.  The 
fabulous — to  say  the  least — statements  of  Nicholson 
have  done  their  end,  and  many  have  been  gulled 
thereby.  Had  these  deceived  persons  been  in  a  single 
vessel  in  Mobile  Bay,  with  none  but  the  Manhattan  to 
protect  them,  they  would  have  made  another  tale  not 
quite  so  flattering  to  the  '  war-horse. ": 

On  account  of  his  habit  of  bragging,  this  commander 
received  the  nickname  of  "War-horse  Nicholson." 

But,  as  I  have  said,  my  brother  was  ordered  in  May, 
1867,  as  first  lieutenant  of  the  Lackawanna,  for  three 
years'  cruise  in  the  Pacific,  and  he  sailed  away  from 
his  country >  find  boards  and  committees  on  naval  mat 
ters  met  and  dissolved.  Chancres  were  made  in  the 

& 

service,  from  which  some  officers  reaped  advantage, 
chiefly  through  political  influence.  Nothing  was  done 
for  him,  and  his  career  furnishes  but  another  illustra 
tion  of  the  proverb  that  "  Republics  are  always  un 
grateful." 

He  was  stationed  about  three  years  in  the  Pacific. 
During  this  time  he  lost  his  brothers  Roger  and  Frank, 
of  whom  he  was  very  fond,  and  by  whose  loss  his  life 
was  much  saddened.  The  headquarters  of  the  Lacka 
wanna  were  at  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Islands,  and  he 
spent  much  of  his  spare  time  traveling  over  these, 
even  to  their  remotest  corners.  He  enjoyed  visiting 
the  ranches,  and  joining  in  the  exciting  though  peril 
ous  occupation  of  driving  the  wild  cattle  down  from 
the  mountains,  where  one's  safety  depended  almost 
wholly  on  skilful  horsemanship.  He  ascended  the 


174       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

great  volcano  of  Kiliau ;  went  to  every  interesting 
locality  ;  studied  the  natives  ;  attended  their  feasts  and 
learned  their  customs  ;  and  the  delicious  climate  ren 
dered  it  possible  for  him  to  enjoy,  all  the  year  round, 
the  open  air  life,  of  which  he  is  so  fond.  As  usual, 
he  wrote  frequently,  and  occasionally  newspaper  bits, 
like  the  following,  informed  us  that  he  was  attending 
to  his  country's  reputation  : 

"The  commander  of  the  British  war  vessel  Chanti 
cleer,  at  Honolulu,  set  his  band  playing  '  Dixie,'  along 
side  the  United  States  steamer  Lackazvanna.  The  latter 
retorted  with  '  Wearing  of  the  Green.' 

"  The  whaling  bark,  Daniel  Wood,  of  New  Bedford, 
was  wrecked  on  the  French  Frigate  Shoals,  April  i/j-th. 
Captain  Richard,  and  a  portion  of  the  crew,  arrived  at 
Honolulu  after  a  passage  of  450  miles  in  an  open  boat. 
The  U.  S.  S.  Lackazvanna  immediately  sailed  for  the 
scene  of  the  wreck  to  rescue  the  remainder  of  the  crew." 

While  the  Lackawanna  was  at  Honolulu,  an  event 
occurred  which  was  referred  to  in  the  discussions  of 
congress  with  regard  to  Hawaiian  matters  in  the  session 
of  i892-'93,  as  illustrating  the  policy  of  our  government. 
The  official  records  of  the  government  afford  a  very 
complete  and  entertaining  history  of  how  the  United 
States  became  the  possessor  of  an  important  island  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  far  beyond  the  present  confines  of 
the  United  States.  That  island  is  called  "Midway 
Island,"  so  named  by  our  navy  department,  principally 
on  the  unofficial  suggestion  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steam 
ship  Company,  in  recognition  of  the  geographical 
position  of  these  islands  on  the  route  from  the  Sandwich 
Islands  to  Japan.  Midway  Island  is  not  far  from  the 
much  talked  of  Hawaiian  Islands,  being  one  of  a  chain 
of  small  islands  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  stretching 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       175 

from  the  Hawaiian  group  in  a  general  northwesterly 
direction. 

The  attention  of  Secretary  Welles  was  called  to  this 
island  as  possibly  destined  to  prove  of  early  importance 
as  a  coaling  station  for  United  States  vessels  cruising 
in  these  waters.  Secretary  Welles  issued  an  order  to 
Rear  Admiral  Thatcher,  commanding  the  North  Pacific 
squadron,  to  detail  the  Lackawanna,or  some  other  suit 
able  vessel,  to  search  for  the  island,  and  having  found 
it,  to  take  possession  in  the  name  of  the  United  States. 

How  completely  and  formally  that  order  was  carried 
into  execution,  is  shown  in  the  very  interesting  report 
made  by  Captain  William  Reynolds,  the  officer  in  com 
mand  of  the  Lackaiuanna.  The  gallant  captain  was  very 
proud  of  having  been  concerned  in  taking  possession  of 
the  first  island  ever  added  to  the  dominion  of  the  United 
States  beyond  our  own  shores,  and  in  his  report  he  well 
describes  the  somewhat  dramatic  and  spectacular  per 
formance  of  taking  possession  of  Midway  Island  in  the 
name  of  the  United  States.  Captain  Reynolds  says  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  on  Wednesday,  the 
28th  of  August,  1867,  in  compliance  with  the  orders  of 
the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Navy  of  May  28,  I  took 
formal  possession  of  Brook's  Island  and  reefs  for  the 
United  States.  Having  previously  erected  a  suitable 
flagstaff,  I  landed  on  that  day,  accompanied  by  all  the 
officers  who  could  be  spared  from  the  ship,  with  six 
boats  armed  and  equipped,  and  under  a  salute  of  twenty- 
one  guns,  and  with  three  cheers,  hoisted  the  national 
ensign,  and  called  on  all  hands  to  witness  the  act  of 
taking  possession  in  the  name  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  ceremony  of  taking  possession  ove>r,  the  how 
itzers  and  small-arm  men  and  marines  were  exercised 
at  target  firing.  Having  hauled  the  seine  and  procured 
an  abundant  supply  offish,  the  men  cooked  their  dinner 


176  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

on  shore,  and  the  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  pleasantly, 
picnic  fashion,  upon  the  island.  It  is  exceedingly  grati 
fying  to  me  to  have  been  thus  concerned  in  taking 
possession  of  the  first  island  ever  added  to  the  dominion 
of  the  United  States  beyond  our  own  shores,  and  I  sin 
cerely  hope  that  this  will  by  no  means  be  the  last  of  our 
insular  annexations.  I  ventured  to  name  the  only  har 
bor  at  this  island  after  the  present  Hon.  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  to  call  its  roadstead  after  the  present  Hon. 
Secretary  of  State  (Seward)." 

The  official  reports  as  to  the  character  of  this  island 
represent  that,  with  the  exception  of  Honolulu,  it  pos 
sesses  advantages  for  a  coaling  depot  superior  to  any 
other  place  on  the  line  from  California  to  China. 

The  allusions  to  this  event  in  Captain  Perkins's  letters, 
at  that  time,  are  as  follows  : 

"AT  SEA,  U.  S.  S.  LACK  AW  ANN  A, 

"August,  1867. 

"  I  received  your  letters  from  home  by  the  last  mail 
and  should  have  answered  them  before  leaving  Hono 
lulu,  but  I  went  into  the  country  to  pass  a  few  days, 
never  dreaming  that  the  ship  was  going  to  sea  ;  but  on 
my  return  I  found  we  were  going  to  leave  the  next  day. 

"  We  are  now  on  our  way  to  survey  an  island,  discov 
ered  by  Captain  Brooks  a  few  years  ago,  which  the 
Pacific  Mail  steamship  wants  for  a  coal  depot,  and  we 
shall  probably  return  to  Honolulu  in  about  six  weeks. 
Ever  since  we  left  there  the  sea  has  been  very  rough, 
and  we  have  been  tumbling  about  in  every  imaginable 
way,  and  now  the  old  ship  is  rolling  so  I  can  hardly 
write.  I  wish  I  could  come  home  if  only  for  a  few  days." 

"AUGUST  4TH. 

"  I  have  been  thinking  of  Roger  and  Frank  all  this 
morning.  In  Roger's  last  letter  to  me,  which  was 
written  in  November,  he  says,  '  In  a  little  while  there 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       177 

will  be  no  more  partings.'  He  was  so  fond  of  Frankie 
that  he  never  recovered  from  his  loss  :  and  now  they 
are  both  gone  !  It  seems  so  strange  and  so  hard.  They 
were  both  noble  boys,  and  you  could  have  better  spared 
Ham  my  or  myself. 

"  It  is  such  a  beautiful  day  it  makes  me  homesick,  but 
we  are  so  far  at  sea  that  there  is  nothing  in  sight  with 
a  shore  look.  When  the  ship  is  in  Honolulu  I  enjoy 
the  best  of  anything  getting  a  few  days  off,  and  going 
back  in  the  country  to  the  cattle  ranches  where  I  get 
plenty  of  excitement  riding  on  first-class  horses  and 
helping  drive  in  the  wild  cattle. 

"  I  hope  you  are  saving  some  of  the  colts  for  me.  I 
am  glad  mother's  horse  is  such  a  nice  one. 

"  These  islands,  where  we  are  going,  are  said  to 
abound  in  fish,  sea  fowl,  turtles,  and  turtles'  eggs. 

"Just  now  we  are  sailing  along  quietly,  although  we 
have  been  greatly  startled  and  had  a  few  moments  of 
terrible  anxiety.  One  of  the  men.  while  furling  the  top 
gallant  sail,  lost  his  hold  and  fell  overboard.  Of 
course,  falling  from  such  a  height,  we  all  thought  he 
was  killed.  The  life-buoys  were  cut  away,  the  ship 
hove  to,  and  a  boat  sent  for  him,  which  picked  him  up 
and  found  him  but  little  hurt  after  all.  It  was  such  a 
narrow  escape,  we  were  all  greatly  relieved  when  we 
got  him  aboard  all  right.  Except  this,  we  are  sailing 
along  day  after  day  in  perfect  monotony,  and  for  two 
months  or  more  we  shall  not  see  a  strange  face  or  hear 
a  word  of  news  from  home.  But  the  weather  is  delight- 

c? 

ful,  and  my  health  is  good.  I  hope  you  have  good 
news  from  Hammy.  He  is  so  far  away  from  me  that 
it  will  take  my  letters  three  months  to  reach  him." 

"  AUGUST  24. 

"  Breakers  have  been  reported  from  the  mast-head, 
and  I  hope  it  is  the  island  we  are  looking  for.  I  must  go.?> 


1 78          LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  AUGUST  27. 

"Yes,  it  proved  to  be  the  land  we  are  seeking,  and 
now  we  are  lying  at  anchor  off  Brooks's  Island,  named 
after  the  captain  who  discovered  it  a  few  years  ago  ; 
and  probably  never  before  or  since  has  there  been  any 
one  there.  It  is  low  and  sandy,  about  six  miles  long, 
and  its  inhabitants  are  only  seagulls  and  other  sea 
birds,  seals,  and  turtles.  Never  having  seen  any 
human  beings  before,  they  are  not  in  the  least  afraid  of 
us,  and  we  can  catch  as  many  of  them  as  we  wish.  I 
have  been  fishing  and  caught  a  boatload  of  fish  and 
eleven  turtles,  each  one  of  the  latter  weighing  two 
hundred  pounds  and  over.  We  are  going  to  remain 
here  and  survey  the  islands,  but  to-day  it  has  come 
on  to  rain,  and  we  are  all  cooped  up  on  board  the 
ship — a  dull  prospect  for  me.  I  think  as  I  grow  older 
I  grow  more  nervous,  and  it  is  hard  for  me  to  sit  still 
more  than  a  few  minutes  at  a  time.  I  wish  I  could 
keep  more  quiet,  for  I  think  it  would  be  better  for  me." 

"  AUGUST  28. 

"Pleasant  weather  has  come  again  and  I  have 
been  out  hunting  and  fishing.  Shot  seventeen  curlew, 
hauled  the  seine,  caught  a  boatload  of  fish  and  three 
large  turtles;  hunted  for  shells,  but  could  not  find  any. 

"We  are  going  to  have  quite  a  ceremony,  and  take 
possession  of  the  islands  for  the  United  States." 

Then  follows  his  description  of  the  ceremony,  which 
I  have  anticipated  in  the  quotations  from  Captain  Rey- 
nolds's  report. 

After  his  cruise  in  the  Pacific  my  brother  was  ordered 
on  ordnance  duty  in  Boston,  March  19,  1869,  and  con 
tinued  in  that  position  until  March,  1871, — with  the 
interruption  of  a  month — when  he  took  the  new  steamer 
Nantasket  on  her  trial  trip  out  of  New  York. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       179 

In  September,  1870,  he  was  married  to  Anna  Minot 
Weld,  daughter  of  William  F.  Weld  of  Boston,  Mass. 
His  marriage  called  forth  warm  and  friendly  letters  from 
his  naval  associates.  Admiral  Bailey  writes  as  follows  : 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"Remembering  the  support  you  gave  me  in  battle, 
and  through  the  hostile  mob  at  New  Orleans,  I  shall 
accept  the  invitation  to  your  wedding,  and  be  present 
to  support  you  through  this  important  step  in  your  life." 

January  19,  1871,  he  was  appointed  Commander  in 
the  Navy.  In  March,  1871,  he  was  ordered  to  com 
mand  the  Relief,  which  carried  stores  from  the  United 
States  to  France,  at  that  time  suffering  from  famine, 
resulting  from  the  disorders  of  the  Communists. 

After  an  absence  of  six  months,  he  returned  to  the 
Boston  navy  yard,  but  was  soon  after  transferred  to 
the  position  of  lighthouse  inspector  of  the  Second  Dis 
trict,  and  continued  to  reside  in  Boston,  which  had  now 
become  his  home.  In  1877  he  was  ordered  to  China, 
to  take  command  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Ashuclot.  After  his 
arrival,  the  newspapers  spoke  of  an  interesting  and 
valuable  report  which  he  sent  to  the  Navy  Department, 
giving  the  results  of  his  visit  and  investigations  at  the 
nevvlv-opened  ports  of  Hoi-how  and  Pak-hoi,  on  the 
island  of  Hainaw. 

My  brother's  friends  at  home  were  soon  gratified  at 
hearing  that  the  admiral  of  the  United  States  squadron 
in  China  was  no  exception  to  his  other  superiors  in  rec 
ognizing  his  merits  as  a  naval  officer.  The  admiral 
wrote  that  it  was  due  to  Captain  Perkins  that  he  should 
say  that  his  ship  was  in  the  best  order  and  had  the  best 
discipline  of  any  ship  he  ever  saw,  and  he  did  not 
believe  he  ever  could  see  a  better  one  ;  that  he  felt 
entire  confidence  in  him,  and  that  he  wished  other 


l8o  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

officers  were  like  him,  etc.     These  kind   praises  of  the 
admiral  greeted  my  brother  from  every  quarter. 

As  a  station  he  found  Japan  preferable  to  China.  The 
swarming  population  of  the  latter  gives  rise  to  habits 
and  customs  that  are  repulsive,  even  disgusting.  But 
it  was  astonishing  to  him  to  journey  from  city  to  city, 
both  on  the  coast  and  in  the  interior,  where  the  very 
names  were  unknown  to  Western  visitors,  and  yet  these 
places  had  inhabitants  numbering  anywhere  from  one 
hundred  thousand  to  four  hundred  thousand  people. 

The  merchants,  and  foreign  residents  of  large  means, 
lived  in  great  luxury,  far  beyond  those  of  their  class  in 
most  Christian  countries,  and  in  Hong  Kong,  Canton, 
and  Shanghai  there  is  constant  and  really  splendid  gay- 
ety.  Visits  of  ceremony,  dinner  parties,  and  European 
amusements  of  all  kinds  succeed  each  other  perpetu 
ally.  From  Shanghai  he  went  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  into  the  interior  on  a  hunting  expedition,  which 
was  conducted  in  a  manner  different  from  any  in  which 
he  had  ever  participated.  The  country  about  Shanghai 
being  level  and  intersected  by  rivers  and  canals,  the 
traveling  there  is  chiefly  by  boats,  and  one  of  the 
belongings  of  a  wealthy  family  is  what  is  called  a 
house-boat,  which  is  luxuriously  fitted  up.  Going  up 
into  the  country  in  one  of  these,  a  hunting  party  can 
anchor  in  the  vicinity  of  the  large  game  which  is  found 
on  the  plains,  and  carry  on  their  sport  with  little  incon 
venience  or  exposure.  From  Canton  he  writes  as  fol 
lows,  under  date  of 

"  MAY  13,  1877. 

"  Since  I  have  been  here  my  time  has  been  taken  up 
exchanging  visits  with  both  natives  and  foreigners  and 
going  to  all  the  places  of  interest.  Most  of  the  foreign 
ers  in  China  who  live  at  all  live  very  handsomely. 
They  keep  up  the  English  customs  so  far  as  the  climate 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       l8l 

will  allow,  dining  at  eight  in  the  evening,  and  the  din 
ner  parties  and  entertainments  are  very  rich  and  elab 
orate.  The  other  day  in  Pack-hoi  I  went  to  a  Chinese 
dinner  at  a  Chinese  gentleman's  house,  and  there  were 
twenty  different  courses,  two  of  them  being  birds-nest 
soup  and  shark's  fins,  which  are  esteemed  such  delica 
cies  by  the  Chinese.  We  had  nothing  but  chopsticks 
to  eat  with. 

"Canton  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  Chinese  cities, 
and  there  were  a  great  many  pretty  things  to  buy  here. 
Coming  up  the  river  from  Hong  Kong  the  scenery  is 
beautiful ;  it  reminds  one  a  little  of  some  parts  of  the 
Hudson.  In  many  places  the  hills  are  terraced  and 
cultivated  to  their  very  summits.  The  manner  of  work 
ing  in  the  fields  here  has  not  changed  for  a  thousand 
years  and  more.  Many  agricultural  customs  spoken 
of  in  the  Bible  are  in  full  force  now  among  these  peo 
ple,  and  one  is  constantly  reminded  of  Bible  descrip 
tions  and  allusions. 

"  These  Chinese  are  the  hardest-working  and  most 
industrious  people  I  ever  saw.  They  live  on  a  little 
rice  and  will  work  hard  all  day  for  ten  cents.  There 
are  always  a  great  many  boats  about  my  ship,  pulled 
by  women,  who  live  in  them  with  their  children,  and 
who  usually  have  a  little  baby,  which  they  strap  on 
their  backs  and  carry  in  that  way  when  they  have  to 
row  or  anything  to  do.  You  hardly  ever  hear  a  Chi 
nese  baby  cry.  They  have  a  funny  custom  about  their 
babies.  A  child  does  not  sit  till  it  is  four  months  old, 
but  on  that  day  the  grandmother  gives  it  a  gaily-painted 
chair  and  some  molasses  candy  ;  this  candy  is  stuck  to 
the  bottom  of  the  chair,  and  the  child  is  then  stuck  to 
the  candy  !  They  think  that  in  this  way  the  child 
learns  to  sit  quietly  and  will  not  require  to  be  carried 
about  in  the  arms.  It  amuses  me  to  watch  them  from 


1 82  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

the  ship,  where  I  can  look  down  upon  them  and  see 
just  how  they  live.  They  are  continually  going  through 
their  forms  of  worship,  keeping  little  sticks  burning 
before  their  images,  making  prayers,  and  setting  papers 
on  fire  to  keep  off  evil  spirits. 

"A  few  days  ago  I  visited  the  prisons  here.  They 
keep  the  prisoners  in  pens,  as  you  would  an  animal, 
with  chains  on  them,  until  they  are  led  out  to  be 
beheaded  or  tortured.  There  is  a  Temple  of  Horrors, 
where  they  have  images  representing  the  different  Chi 
nese  ways  of  punishment,  and  frightfully  cruel  some  of 
them  are. 

"To-day  I  have  been  to  see  the  hall  of  the  literary 
examinations,  where  about  ten  thousand  students  have 
a  competitive  examination  every  three  years,  and  as 
they  come  with  their  friends  from  all  over  China,  it  is 
a  time  of  fun  or  feasting,  like  class-day  at  Harvard, 
only  more  so.  The  hall  where  the  candidates  prepare 
for  examination  is  furnished  with  little  stalls,  which  are 
not  so  good  as  those  we  give  our  cattle,  and  the  candi 
dates  are  shut  in  them  for  three  days.  They  carry  in 
their  own  food,  which  is  to  last  them  through,  and  they 
sleep  on  a  shelf  of  boards  ;  they  are  constantly  and 
closely  watched,  the  doors  are  fastened  and  sealed,  and 
they  are  entirely  separated  from  the  outside  world. 
This  is  to  prevent  their  receiving  any  aid  from  others 
in  preparing  their  essays. 

"  In  the  children's  schools  of  the  Chinese  the  customs 
are  just  the  reverse  of  ours.  They  all  study  out  loud, 
and  it  sounds  like  a  perfect  babel ;  and  when  they 
recite  their  lessons,  they  stand  with  their  backs  to  the 
teacher." 

From  Tientsin,  November  9,  1877,  my  brother  writes, 
describing  a  trip  into  Northern  China  : 

44 1   returned   from   Peking   two    days   ago,   where   I 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       183 

have  had  a  very  interesting  visit.  I  met  our  minister 
and  his  wife,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seward,  at  Hong  Kong, 
and  I  promised  to  visit  them  when  I  took  the  Ashuelot 
north.  This  port  being  the  nearest  to  Peking,  I  made 
my  arrangements  as  soon  as  I  arrived  here  to  accept 
their  invitation,  and  am  very  glad  I  did  so,  for  I  have 
had  a  delightful  visit,  and  they  have  been  very  polite 
and  kind  to  me. 

"The  distance  from  here  to  Peking  is  eighty  miles, 
and  I  went  by  boat.  The  Chinese  have  made  this 
mode  of  traveling  very  luxurious,  but  all  other  ways 
of  getting  about  here  are  uncomfortable  enough.  They 
go  in  rough  carts,  or  in  wheelbarrows  drawn  by  mules, 
and  no  provision  is  made  for  travelers  which  deserves 
the  name. 

"  Peking  must  have  been  a  beautiful  city  once  ;  but 
the  government  is  so  bad  now  it  is  fast  going  to  decay. 
There  was  a  great  deal  to  see  there, — palaces,  temples, 
pagodas,  all  wonderful,  and  representing  an  amount 
of  skill  and  labor  to  be  found  nowhere  but  in  China. 
Among  the  photographs  which  I  send  you  there  are 
two  of  a  monument  to  Buddha,  which,  in  its  way,  is 
the  most  beautiful  thing  I  ever  saw.  One  of  the  photo 
graphs  represents  a  section  of  it,  and  that  will  show 
you  what  the  carving  is  ;  it  is  equally  fine  all  over  its 
surface,  and  it  is  an  immense  monument.  They  told 
me  all  the  life  of  Buddha  was  portrayed  on  it.  It  is  of 
white  marble,  and  stands  on  a  terrace  with  a  pagoda  at 
each  of  the  four  corners. 

"The  Temple  of  Heaven  seemed  to  me  the  finest  of 
the  temples,  and  that  is  another  wonder  of  elaborate 
carving  in  marble.  The  upper  part  and  the  dome  are 
of  blue  tiles.  It  stands  on  a  large  platform  of  white 
marble  at  the  top  of  three  terraces,  each  one  sur 
rounded  with  white  marble  balustrades,  and  with  mar- 


184       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

ble  steps,  and  everything  very  handsome.  You  will 
see  in  the  photograph  what  an  immense  furnace  is 
attached  to  this  temple  where  a  whole  ox  can  be 
burned  for  sacrifice.  In  one  of  the  temples  is  an  idol 
of  Buddha  sixty  feet  high — the  largest  idol  in  the 
world.  All  the  buildings,  palaces,  temples,  etc.,  where 
the  imperial  family  live  or  worship,  are  covered  with 
yellow  tiles,  which  is  the  imperial  color. 

"  During  my  whole  stay  in  Peking  I  was  going  from 
one  wonderful  thing  to  another,  each  one  worthy  of 
long  study  by  the  curious  or  learned  in  such  matters. 
I  was  shown  an  immense  bell  that  weighed  one  hun 
dred  thousand  pounds  ;  it  was  covered  outside  and  in 
with  Chinese  characters,  and  I  do  not  see  how  any 
thing  so  huge  could  have  been  cast,  and  cast  at  one 
time,  and  that  over  two  hundred  years  ago. 

"  To  show  how  these  Chinese  lavish  time  and  labor, 
you  will  see,  in  the  photographs  I  send  you  of  the 
astronomical  apparatus  belonging  to  the  Observatory, 
how  the  standards  and  every  part  are  wrought  into 
dragons'  heads  and  figures,  and  carved  and  orna 
mented.  These  instruments  are  kept  on  a  platform  on 
the  city  wall,  and  stand  exposed  to  the  open  air.  They 
were  built  about  two  hundred  years  ago  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  about 
that  time  were  in  favor  with  the  Chinese  Emperor,  and 
accomplished  a  great  deal  by  their  influence. 

"We  went  out  on  horseback  from  Peking  on  an 
excursion  to  the  great  wall.  So  much  has  been  writ 
ten  about  this  that  I  will  not  undertake  to  describe  it, 
just  leaving  it  to  the  photographs  to  help  you  out. 
They  will  give  you  some  idea  how  impressive  it  is  to 
come  upon  such  a  work  as  this  in  the  midst  of  the 
roughness  and  wildness  of  Northern  China.  We  went 
to  the  wall  and  out  through  the  Nankow  Pass.  In  the 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  185 

pictures  I  send  you,  you  will  see  how  the  wall  runs 
down  here  to  a  savage  place  between  two  mountains, 
where  there  are  rough  rocks  and  boulders  heaped  all 
about,  as  if  they  had  rolled  down  in  an  avalanche.  In 
a  place  like  this,  think  what  a  surprise  it  is  to  find 
one's  self  close  to  an  arched  opening,  and  on  looking 
up  to  see  a  magnificently-built  archway  covered  with 
elaborate  carving,  and  crowned  with  two  dragons  sup 
porting  an  image  of  Buddha? 

"  Through  this  Pass  goes  all  the  immense  trade  with 
outlying  China,  with  Siberia,  and  with  Russia,  and  all 
the  overland  trade  of  Northern  China,  and  this  is  all 
carried  on  beasts  of  burden.  No  carriages,  carts,  or 
articles  of  any  sort,  are  allowed  to  go  through  the 
Nankow  Pass,  though  the  need  for  that  Ja\v,  or  for  this 
gateway,  or  for  the  wall  itself,  which  was  built  to 
protect  the  original  Chinese  from  the  incursions  of  the 
Tartars,  passed  away  long  ago,  when  those  Tartars 
conquered  the  Chinese. 

"By  the  way,  I  find  camels  much  used  in  Northern 
China,  though  it  was  a  surprise  to  me  to  come  upon 
them  as  I  approached  Peking.  I  went  through  the 
Pass  and  had  a  glimpse  of  the  great  Mongolian  Plain 
beyond,  where  the  Tartars  herd  their  flocks,  and  live 
in  tents  and  wander  about,  just  as  shepherd  tribes  have 
done  since  the  days  of  Abraham.  I  was  sorry  my  time 
was  so  limited  that  I  could  not  follow  on  the  track  of 
Mr.  Williams — the  author  of  one  of  the  best  books  on 
China — who  traveled  all  over  this  plain. 

"We  found  a  curious  arrangement  for  a  bed  in 
Northern  China.  They  build  a  brick  platform  about 
two  feet  high,  sometimes  lar^e  enough  to  accommo- 

£3       7  o  <"> 

date  several  persons.  This  is  built  over  a  funnel  which 
passes  back  and  forth  until  it  ends  in  a  sort  of  chimney. 
The  fire  is  put  at  one  end  of  the  funnel,  where  it  comes 


1 86  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

out  beneath  the  brick,  and  the  fire,  smoke,  and  heated 
air  pass  back  and  forth,  and  out  at  the  chimney,  until 
the  bricks  of  this  queer  bedstead — which  is  called  a 
kong — become  heated,  and  then  the  fire  is  put  out, 
and  the  servant  spreads  the  bedding — which  in  China 
a  traveler  always  carries  with  him — on  the  warm  sur 
face. 

"  Returning  from  the  great  wall  we  made  a  detour 
to  see  the  tombs  of  the  emperors,  or  '  Ming  Tombs,'  as 
they  are  called ;  it  means  the  same  thing.  Ming  is 
Chinese  for  emperor.  I  am  very  glad  I  have  seen 
them.  They  were  the  most  singular,  the  most  novel, 
and  the  most  imposing  of  anything  I  have  seen  at  all, 
well  worth  making  a  great  effort  to  visit.  They  are 
sixty  miles  north  from  Peking,  and  are  situated  in  a 
long,  sandy  plain,  encircled  by  an  amphitheatre  of 
high  mountains.  There  they  have  stood  in  their  lonely 
grandeur  for  more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  their 
state  of  preservation  is  wonderful.  It  is  such  that  it 
gives  you  that  rare  sensation  of  being  suddenly  dropped 
into  another  world. 

"From  the  entrance-gate  to  the  first  tomb  there  is 
an  avenue  of  three  miles.  The  avenue  gateway  con 
sists  of  five  marble  archways,  supported  on  pillars, 
whose  bases  are  carved  with  lions  and  dragons,  and 
whose  tops  support  a  roof  worked  up  with  that  strange 
Chinese  elaboration  which  I  have  no  words  to  describe. 
This  avenue  is  formed  first  by  a  row  of  white  marble 
columns  on  each  side;  then  by  lines  of  sculptured  ani 
mals  of  colossal  size  ;  and,  lastly,  by  twelve  gigantic 
statues.  The  lines  of  animals  are  the  strangest  sight, — 
camels,  lions,  and  winged  dragons,  immense  creatures 
lying  or  standing  on  the  barren  plain  as  if  petrified 
there.  Their  size  and  immobility  are  singularly  affect 
ing.  They  are  all  cut  from  single  blocks  of  granite. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       1 87 

It  is  wonderful  what  work  the  Chinese  do  in  this  hard 
stone.  They  use  it  a  great  deal ;  and  the  time  and 
patience  it  must  require  to  cut  and  carve  as  they  do, 
make  one  tired  to  think  of. 

"The  great  statues  that  finish  the  avenue  to  the 
inner  gateway  are  said  to  be  those  of  the  emperors 
buried  there.  They  are  supposed  to  be  dressed  like 
ancient  Chinese  warriors.  Their  high  square  head 
gear  is  called  a  helmet,  and  something  like  a  cuirass 
covers  the  upper  part  of  the  figure,  but  otherwise  their 
garments  are  long  and  flowing,  and  the  effect  to  me 
was  not  warlike,  but  solemn  and  dignified.  They 
seemed  to  stand  for  types  of  the  sages  of  old,  and 
embodiments  of  the  faith  and  philosophy  of  this  ancient 
people. 

"At  the  end  of  the  avenue  is  another  gateway,  con 
sisting  of  a  single  arch,  embellished  on  the  upper  cor 
ners  with  huge  Chinese  lions.  The  roadway  of  great 
flags,  which  leads  through  it,  and  the  pathways  on 
each  side  are  in  good  order  and  look  so  fresh  that  it 
is  hard  to  believe  their  date  is  830  A.  D.  Entering 
this,  you  perceive  that  the  great  tombs  are  arranged  in 
a  semicircle  around  the  valley,  and  that  each  tomb  is 
a  temple  in  itself.  All  around  them  is  a  thick  growth 
of  evergreen  trees,  which,  though  dark  and  solemn, 
softens  the  effect  of  loneliness  which  the  great,  bare 
plain  and  the  high,  rocky  mountains  give.  Just  the 
trees  seemed  to  give  a  sense  of  companionship  and  take 
away  the  sense  of  something  weird,  and  of  another 
world,  which  was  almost  oppressive. 

"I  have  spoken  of  their  size.  The  one  that  we 
measured  was  sixty-seven  yards  long  and  twenty-seven 
yards  wide.  White  and  red  marble,  porphyry,  and 
teak  wood,  all  covered  with  sculptures,  are  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  tombs.  They  called  my  attention  to 


1 88       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

the  pure  and  severe  style  of  the  architecture — dif 
ferent  from  what  is  usual  in  China,  but  which  gives  an 
effect  of  grandeur.  The  evergreens  give  quite  a  sepul 
chral  shade,  and  as  we  stood  there  in  one  of  the  tombs 
one  of  their  appointed  guardians  struck  loudly  on  a 
gong.  The  noise  rang  through  the  halls  with  curious 
vibrations,  and  almost  made  the  flesh  creep.  They  say 
that  the  ashes  of  the  emperors  were  deposited  in  golden 
coffins,  and  in  order  to  keep  their  final  resting  place  a 
secret,  and  secure  from  robbers,  the  grave  diggers 
were  killed." 

After  this  visit  at  Peking,  my  brother  continued  in 
the  performance  of  the  routine  duties  of  his  station  until 
October,  1878,  when  he  received  the  following  letter 
from  the  admiral  : 

'"SiR:  When  the  vessel  under  your  command  is  in 
all  respects  ready  for  sea,  proceed  with  her  on  a  cruise 
to  the  southward  as  far  as  Bangkok,  visiting,  on  the 
way,  Kobe,  Nagasaki,  Foochow,  Amoy,  Hong  Kong, 
and  Manila,  and,  if  practicable,  reach  Bangkok  about 
the  2Oth  of  December  next.  Thence  proceed  to  Saigon, 
Pak-hoi,  Hoi-how,  and  return  to  Hong  Kong  about  the 
middle  of  February  next.  Regulate  your  stay  at  each 
place  as  American  interests  may  demand." 

On  receipt  of  this,  the  Ashuclot  began  preparations 
to  go  to  the  southward,  and  left  Yokohama  the  fourth 
of  October.  She  visited  Kobe  and  Nagasaki,  and 
investigated  the  reports  as  to  the  existence  of  cholera. 
Finding  these  unfounded,  she  proceeded  to  Foochow, 
where  there  had  been  disturbances  and  riots,  in  which 
a  missionary's  house  had  been  burned.  Here  a  com 
missioner,  favorable  to  the  interests  of  foreigners,  was 
appointed  to  settle  affairs,  and  the  Chinese  made 
amends.  The  Ashuclot  then  continued  on  its  way  to 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  189 

Hong  Kong,  where  it  was  found  necessary  to  "dock" 
the  ship  and  have  her  scraped  and  painted.  In  that 
harbor,  full  of  men-of-war  of  all  nations,  and  with  the 
British  government  officials  and  residents,  there  is  a 
constant  exchange  of  visits  and  dinner  parties  and 
entertainments,  which  do  not  make  especially  interest 
ing  records  in  letters. 

On  Monday,  the  second  of  December,  the  Ashuclot 
left  Hong  Kong  for  Manila,  where  it  remained  until 
the  27th,  and  the  following  letter  gives  an  account  of 
a  visit  to  the  Philippine  Islands  : 

"AT  SEA, 
"  December  2,  1878. 

"Yesterday  I  left  Manila,  where  I  have  been  since 
the  sixth  of  this  month.  Manila,  you  know,  or  will  if 
you  look  on  the  map,  is  the  capital  of  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and  is  on  the  largest  of  them,  which  is  called 
Luzon.  It  belongs  to  the  Spaniards,  and  the  governor 
is  a  Spanish  Marquis  with  a  very  long  and  high- 
sounding  name,  which  is,  however,  quite  equalled  by 
those  of  some  of  his  subordinates.  My  clerk  has 
written  them  down  in  the  journal,  so  you  can  read 
them  when  I  get  home,  but  they  take  up  too  much 
room  in  a  letter. 

"  Our  first  days  there  were  spent  in  firing  salutes, 
and  exchanging  visits,  and  going  through  all  the  forms 
which  are  customary  when  a  government  vessel  comes 
into  a  foreign  port.  Admiral  Patterson  sent  me  here 
to  settle  a  stabbing  affray  on  board  the  American 
barque  Masonic,  and  that  took  up  my  attention  at  first. 
In  the  evenings  I  went  to  the  opera,  and  visited  the 
sights  of  the  city.  On  account  of  earthquakes,  all 
the  buildings  are  but  one  story  high.  The  customs, 
fashions,  etc.,  are  Spanish.  Every  one  was  polite, 
and  I  found  it  very  pleasant ;  but,  as  you  might  expect, 


1 90  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

after  a  little  while  I  grew  restless.  I  heard  that  there 
was  some  beautiful  scenery  in  the  interior,  and  I  re 
solved  to  go  on  an  investigating  trip  and  see  it.  Our 
vice-consul,  Mr.  Yongs,  and  another  gentlemen  went 
with  me,  and  we  took  servants,  guides,  etc. 

"From  Manila  we  went  in  a  boat  up  a  short  river, 
which  had  its  rise  in  a  large  lake,  about  twenty-five 
miles  long,  and  which  we  crossed  in  a  steamer.  I 
think  I  never  saw  such  quantities  of  two  things  as  were 
on  that  lake — namely,  ducks  and  mosquitoes. 

"  From  the  lake  we  continued  our  journey  in  two- 
horse  vehicles,  like  the  volantes  of  Havana,  and  in 
these  we  went  from  village  to  village  on  our  way  to  the 
mountains.  We  were  very  well  treated.  The  Spanish 
authorities  at  Manila  provided  us  with  papers  which 
commanded  the  chief  men  of  the  villages  through 
which  we  passed  to  furnish  us  with  whatever  we 
required.  The  villages  were  clusters  of  thatched  huts 
around  a  church,  and  the  religion  seemed  to  be  a 
curious  mixture  of  Roman  Catholic  Christianity  and 
pagan  superstition,  as  I  concluded  from  the  style  of 
the  pictures  with  which  these  churches  were  adorned. 
These  were  chiefly  representations  of  hell  and  its 
torments.  Devils,  with  the  traditional  tails  and  horns, 
and  armed  with  pitchforks,  were  turning  over  sinners 
in  lakes  of  burning  brimstone.  I  thought  from  the 

t^  c? 

decided  majority  of  these  'hell-fire'  pictures  that  the 
priests  thought  fear  an  important  element  of  the  faith. 
"We  found  the  natives  very  musical;  they  sang, 
and  played  on  a  variety  of  instruments,  and  the}^  were 
quite  handsome.  The  women  had,  without  exception, 
the  longest  and  most  luxuriant  hair  I  ever  saw  in  all 
my  travels.  You  know  it  is  quite  a  rare  thing  among 
us  for  a  woman  to  have  hair  that  sweeps  the  ground, 
but  here  the  exception  is  the  the  other  way ;  nearly 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       19 1 

every  woman  I  saw  had  hair  between  five  and  six  feet 
in  length  ! 

<k  I  was  told  that  back  among  the  mountains  there 
existed  tribes  of  Indians  whom  the  Spaniards  have 
never  been  able  to  conquer,  and  no  one  dares  to  ven 
ture  among  them,  not  even  the  priests.  Our  road  was 
constantly  ascending,  and  as  we  advanced  towards  the 
interior  the  scenery  became  beautiful.  Peaks  of  moun 
tains  rose  all  about  us  ;  plains  and  valleys  stretched 
out,  covered  with  tropical  vegetation  ;  picturesque  vil 
lages,  clustering  around  their  churches,  were  visible 
here  and  there  ;  and  in  the  distance  were  glimpses  of 
the  sea,  either  sparkling  and  bright  in  the  sun,  or 
1  deeply,  darkly,  beautifully  blue.' 

"  I  was  told  of  a  wonderful  ravine  among  the  moun 
tains  that  was  worth  seeing,  and  I  decided  to  visit  it, 
especially  as  it  was  a  favorable  time  ;  the  river,  by 
which  it  had  to  be  approached,  was  then  high,  and  its 
fifteen  cascades,  which  usually  had  to  be  climbed  past, 
dragging  the  canoe,  were  reduced  to  four.  I  took 
three  Indians  with  me,  and  we  ascended  successfully. 
I  have  called  it  a  ravine,  but  a  '  gorge  '  would  be  a 
better  term,  for  it  is  worn  directly  through  the  moun 
tain  by  a  large  river,  and  the  rock  rises  up  on  each 
side,  as  sheer  and  straight  as  if  cut  by  machinery. 

"After  I  had  ascended  a  certain  distance,  I  stopped 
for  a  time  to  examine  all  the  wild  magnificence  about 
me.  The  rocky  wall  on  each  side  was  so  high  that 
when  I  looked  up  I  could  see  the  stars  shining  in  that 
bright  noonday,  as  if  it  were  night.  Huge  birds  came 
flapping  up  the  gorge  far  above  my  head  ;  and  yet  they 
were  far  below  the  top  of  the  mountain  of  rock.  I  do 
not  know  how  many  feet  it  rose,  but  I  never  saw  any 
precipice  where  the  impression  of  height  was  so  effect 
ually  given — it  seemed  immense. 


192      LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"  Beneath  us  was  the  deep,  broad  stream,  looking 
very  dark  in  such  a  twilight  as  such  a  shadow  made, 
and  I  could  not  help  feeling  awestruck.  But  the  open 
ing  of  the  gorge  framed  as  smiling  and  cheerful  a 
landscape  as  could  possibly  be  devised,  to  contrast  with 
the  inner  gloom.  It  was  a  wide,  varied,  and  splendid 
view  of  the  country  beyond,  sloping  to  the  distant  sea, 
and  all  of  it  as  aglow  with  light  and  color  as  sea  and 
land  could  be,  beneath  a  tropic  sun. 

"  Descending  the  river  on  our  way  out,  I  had  a 
characteristic  adventure,  which  will  make  me  satisfied 
for  a  time.  We  had  passed  two  of  the  rapids  in  safety, 
but  as  we  approached  the  third,  the  canoe  struck  on  a 
rock,  or  something  in  the  current,  bow  on,  and  swing 
ing  round,  half  filled  with  water.  The  Indians  in  the 
end  of  the  canoe  nearest  the  rock  sprang  out  and  clung 
to  the  vines  which  hung  over  its  sides,  but  the  other 
Indian  and  I  went  over  the  fall  in  the  half-swamped 
canoe,  and  were  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  the  stream, 
with  an  unusually  good  prospect  of  getting  a  good  deal 
more  of  it. 

"The  fall  once  passed  through,  the  current  drove  us 
towards  the  shore,  if  that  is  what  you  would  call  a 
precipice  of  rock,  running  straight  down  far  below  the 
surface  of  the  water.  I  succeeded  in  grasping  the 
vines,  and  pulling  the  canoe  after  me  by  my  feet.  The 
water  was  quiet  close  by  the  rock,  and  the  other  two 
Indians,  crawling  down  to  us,  hung  on  with  me,  and 
bailed  out  the  boat  till  it  was  safely  afloat,  and  then  we 
went  down  the  rest  of  the  way  without  accident. 

"  Xmas  I  passed  quietly  on  board  ship  till  evening, 
when  I  went  to  dine  at  the  consul's.  Of  course  all 
such  holidays  are  rather  sad  to  me.  I  am  getting  old, 
and  it  seems  as  if  I  should  never  be  at  home — already 
more  than  half  my  life  has  been  spent  away.  We  are 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  193 

now  on  our  way  to  Bangkok,  Siam,  where  I  expect  to 
see  more  new  sights.  We  shall  reach  there  in  about  a 

& 

week,  if  the  weather  permits." 

For  a  description  of  the  interesting  visit  which  the 
Ashuelot  made  at  Siam,  I  make  the  following  extracts 
from  my  brother's  letters  : 

"JANUARY    4,    1879. 

"  Last   Wednesday   we    sighted    Palo   Obi — a    small 

•/  C*> 

island  near  the  coast — and  passing  between  that  and 
Cambodia  Point,  entered  the  Gulf  of  Siam,  which  we 
were  two  days  ascending.  This  morning  the  pilot 
came  aboard  at  six,  and  we  started  ahead  for  Bangkok, 
which  we  reached  at  noon.  We  fired  a  salute,  and  ran 
up  the  Siamese  flag  at  the  fore,  and  soon  after  anchor- 
inn  the  consul  came  off  to  visit  us." 

o 

"JANUARY    12,    1879. 

"  I  am  having  a  very  pleasant  visit  in  this  strange 
part  of  the  world,  and  if  I  were  younger  and  could 
shake  off  my  homesickness  I  should  be  greatly  enter 
tained.  The  day  after  I  arrived  in  Bangkok,  the 
American  consul — Mr.  Sickles — took  me,  with  some  of 
my  officers,  to  call  on  the  minister  of  state.  He  was 
very  polite,  and  after  our  visit  we  received  an  invitation 
to  be  present  at  a  *  Sokan  Festival,'  as  it  is  called,  which 
was  held  in  honor  of  the  hair  cutting  of  a  royal  princess. 

"  It  seems  the  hair  of  Siamese  children  is  not  cut  till 
a  certain  age,  but  is  worn  in  a  knot  at  the  top  of  the 
head,  where  it  is  fastened  with  gay  pins  and  often  deco 
rated  with  flowers.  When  they  are  old  enough,  this 
knot  of  hair  is  cut  off,  and  there  is  always  some  cere 
mony  about  it,  even  among  the  poorest.  But  this 
Sokan  Festival  was  in  honor  of  the  princess  of  the  high 
est  rank  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  ceremonies  were  as 


194       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

splendid  and  elaborate  as  it  was  possible  to  make  them. 
They  last  for  six  days,  and  are  held  in  a  square 
adjoining1  the  royal  palace.  Around  this  square  are 
halls  and  seats  for  spectators,  according  to  their  rank, 
and  the  square  itself  is  covered  with  puppet  shows, 
booths — I  use  an  English  synonym  for  what  I  cannot 
describe  in  any  other  way — and  refreshment  stands, 
where  the  people  are  regaled  at  the  expense  of  the  gov 
ernment.  But  what  was  really  splendid,  and  perfectly 
dazzling  to  look  at,  was  what  was  called  the  '  Trailaht,' 
which  was  seemingly  a  mountain  of  gold,  on  the  top  of 
which  was  a  gilt  temple,  where  the  final  ceremonies 
of  this  '  Royal  Sokan  Festival '  took  place.  On  this 
mountain  and  about  the  temple  were  artificial  trees, 
which  were  full  of  automatic  birds,  monkeys,  snakes, 
etc.,  and  there  were  pools  of  water  full  of  artificial  fish, 
and  there  were  images  of  people  moved  by  machinery, 
and  on  the  steps  of  the  temple  stood  Lukuan  girls  with 
huge  wings  attached  to  their  garments,  which  had  some 
machinery  by  which  they  waved  them  and  flapped  them 
about.  All  the  attendants  and  every  one  in  the  temple 
had  these  wings,  and  I  was  given  to  understand  that 
within  the  precincts  of  the  temple  everything  was  sup 
posed  to  represent  heaven. 

"  The  city  is  crowded  with  people  from  every  part  of 
the  kingdom,  who  have  come  to  do  honor  to  the  occa 
sion.  Every  afternoon,  while  the  festival  lasts,  there  is 
a  procession  around  the  square,  which  is  one  of  the 
great  features  of  the  performance.  This  procession  is 
barbaric  and  grotesque  to  a  degree,  but  is  also  very 
gorgeous.  The  mines  of  this  country  furnish  the  finest 
precious  stones  in  the  world,  and  they  flash  upon  one 
in  great  abundance,  often  in  necklaces  and  bracelets 
strung  together  on  the  necks  and  arms  of  naked  chil 
dren.  One  of  the  titles  of  the  king  of  Siam  is  '  Lord  of 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       195 

the  Rubies.'  Portions  of  the  procession,  I  judged,  had 
some  national  significance.  It  was  composed  of  men 
and  women,  and  the  costumes  of  every  province  of  the 
kingdom  were  represented  ;  also  Chinese  and  Japanese. 
There  were  besides  a  large  number  in  masquerade. 
Then  there  was  a  military  display,  and  the  music  con 
sisted  both  of  native  music  and  European  bands.  The 
second  king  has  a  very  good  band.  Altogether  the 
procession  presented  as  brilliant  an  appearance  as  it  is 
possible  to  imagine. 

"  The  first  afternoon  that  I  went  with  some  of  my 
officers  to  see  it,  \ve  were  given  conspicuous  seats  on 
the  line  of  the  procession,  and  I  was  engaged  intently 
watching  the  strange  sight.  Of  course  I  wore  my  uni 
form,  but  did  not  expect  any  especial  notice,  having 
gone  as  a  spectator.  The  king,  in  a  gilded  chair  of 
state,  carried  by  six  bearers,  constitutes  a  part  of  the 
procession,  and  when  he  arrived  opposite  me,  I  saw 
him  give  an  order,  and  everything  came  to  a  full  stop. 
Then  a  messenger  came  to  me  and  said  that  the  king 
wished  to  see  me.  I  followed  the  messenger  and 
approached  the  chair,  when  the  king  said  to  me  in  a 
full,  clear  voice,  and  in  good  English,  «  What  is  your 
mission  to  this  country?'  I  replied  that  my  mission 
was  a  friendly  one,  that  I  had  only  come  to  express  the 
good-will  of  the  United  States  to  his  kingdom,  etc.  ;  to 
which  he  replied,  '  We  are  very  glad  to  see  you,'  and 
signalled  for  the  procession  to  pass  on.  I  was  never 
more  taken  by  surprise  in  my  life,  and  felt  as  if  I  were 
enacting  a  scene  in  the  'Arabian  Nights.' 

"  Immediately  after  the  king  came  the  gorgeously 
decorated  chair  of  the  Princess  Royal.  She  wore  a 
gold  crown,  and  was  covered  with  gold  chains  and 
jewelry,  and  was  attended  by  a  group  of  ladies  who 
carried  the  insignia  of  her  rank  on  gold  salvers. 


196      LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

"After  the  procession  had  made  its  circuit,  the  king 
took  his  place  in  a  sort  of  hall,  on  one  side  of  the 
square,  which  was  handsomely  decorated  and  arranged 
for  him,  and  then  he  received  the  Princess  Royal,  and 
placed  her  by  his  side.  Then  envoys  from  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  and  from  neighboring  ones,  advanced 
and  presented  her  with  gifts.  All  the  noble  families  of 
the  kingdom  also  follow  this  example,  and  this  cere 
mony  is  gone  through  with  every  day. 

"After  the  royal  party  was  seated,  a  sort  of  enter 
tainment  began.  Some  very  pretty  Siamese  women — I 
was  told  they  were  ladies  of  rank — went  through  a  slow 
dance,  before  the  king  and  princess,  in  which  a  silver 
tree  was  passed  from  one  to  the  other.  They  were 
richly  dressed  and  danced  to  native  music. 

"After  this,  some  Lakuan  girls,  dressed  in  bright  col 
ors,  with  wings  fastened  to  their  shoulders,  descended 
from  the  gilded  temple  and  danced.  It  was  all  very 
strange  and  diverting  for  the  time,  and  I  never  saw 
anything  so  showy  and  glittering  as  was  the  whole 
scene.  I  witnessed  it  several  times  during  the  festival, 
but  it  wras  much  alike  each  day. 

"  Before  I  go  on  with  an  account  of  my  visitings  and 
entertainments  I  will  tell  you  something  about  Bangkok. 
It  is  on  the  Meinam  Chow  Phya  River,  stretched  out 
about  five  miles,  and  contains  about  five  hundred  thou 
sand  people.  These  all  live  on  the  river,  in  floating 
houses  built  on  rafts  of  bamboo  poles  and  fastened  to 
posts,  except  the  consulates,  kings'  palaces,  temples, 
and  places  of  that  sort,  which  require  a  firm  foundation 
on  the  land.  All  these  latter  buildings  are  tiled  with 
green  and  yellow,  and  have  an  immense  amount  of 
porcelain  used  in  their  construction,  with  elaborate  fig 
ures  of  gods  and  animals  adorning  them.  One  temple 
has  four  white  porcelain  elephants,  more  than  halfway 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       197 

up  from  its  base,  facing  the  four  points  of  the  compass, 
and  this  same  temple  is  hung  with  little  bells  from  the 
top  of  its  spire  to  its  base,  which  have  fans  for  tongues, 
that  catch  the  wind's  slightest  movement  and  ring  very 
sweetly.  The  roofs  of  the  temples  turn  up  at  every 
angle  with  a  curved  and  pointed  projection,  shaped 
something  like  a  horn  and  something  like  an  aspiring 
flame.  They  would  be  very  beautiful  and  interesting 
if  they  were  only  clean,  but  half  their  beauty  is  con 
cealed  under  dirt  and  slime,  and  for  this  same  reason 
all  their  attractions  are  made  repulsive. 

"  I  find  it  very  warm  here,  but  they  say  the  heat  is 
nothing  now  compared  to  the  summer.  The  mornings 
are  the  pleasantest  part  of  the  day,  and  then  Bangkok 
seems  like  a  great,  active  city.  The  river  is  covered 
with  boats  and  there  are  throngs  of  people  out.  The 
royal  boats  and  those  of  the  wealthy  are  handsomely 
decorated,  and  are  a  pretty  sight,  as  they  dart  about  on 
the  river,  with  their  high-pointed  prows.  I  was  sur 
prised  to  find  so  much  of  the  shipping  belonging  directly 
to  Siamese  merchants.  Vessels  flying  the  flag  of  the 
white  elephant  were  far  more  plentiful  than  those  of 
any  other  nation.  It  is  a  very  showy  flag,  but  I  should 
think  it  might  present  a  funny  appearance  when  hoisted 
as  a  signal  of  distress  ;  that  is,  upside-down. 

"On  account  of  so  many  houses  being  on  the  river, 
some  romantic  individuals  endeavor  to  dub  Bangkok 
the  '  Venice  of  the  East,'  but  I  could  not  get  very 
enthusiastic  over  any  place  so  slimy  and  muddy,  and 
infested  with  reptiles  and  insects  of  every  description. 
The  mosquitoes  are  terrible, — no  ordinary  protection 
suffices  against  them.  Snakes  are  as  plenty  as  frogs. 
The  sailors  have  to  resort  to  all  sorts  of  devices  to  keep 
them  out  of  the  boats,  both  day  and  night,  when  we  go 
ashore.  The  fireflies,  though,  merit  all  that  has  been 


198       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

said  about  them.  Not  only  are  they  the  biggest  and 
brightest  that  I  have  seen  in  all  my  wanderings,  but 
their  nocturnal  displays  are  a  marked  feature  among 
Siamese  curiosities. 

"Speaking  of  snakes,  our  consul  told  me  he  had 
tried  to  raise  chickens  in  the  grounds  attached  to  the 
consulate,  which  are  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  but  could 
not  succeed  because  boa-constrictors  came  boldly  in, 
night  and  day,  and  carried  them  off. 

"The  day  after  the  Royal  Sokan  Festival  closed  I 
went  to  a  croquet  party  at  our  consul's,  and  this  was  a 
strong  contrast  to  the  gorgeousness  of  the  day  before, 
with  its  half  barbaric  procession,  succeeded  by  the 
dances  of  a  great  number  of  Lakuan  girls  in  rich, 
high-colored  dresses,  which  made  the  whole  scene  one 
of  flashing,  shifting  splendor. 

"The  croquet  party  was  as  Western  as  it  could  be 
made  by  English  and  American  residents  in  so  very 
Eastern  a  place  as  Siam.  The  second  king  sent  his 
band  to  enliven  it.  After  the  Sokan  Festival,  I  paid 
a  series  of  visits  to  royal  personages  and  ministers,  and 
to  the  places  of  interest  about  Bangkok. 

"  The  Siamese  are  polite  and  gentle  in  their  manners 
and  cordial  to  strangers,  who  are  rarities.  The  foreign 
community  here  is  only  about  two  hundred.  The  Siam 
ese  children  are  beautiful,  and  very  pretty  and  attrac 
tive  in  their  ways. 

"  I  went  to  see  the  ex-regent  and  the  ministers  of  war 
and  of  state.  Mr.  Sickles,  and  the  king's  interpreter, 
Mr.  Alabaster,  took  me  all  over  the  royal  palaces  and 
temples,  parts  of  which  are  very  gorgeous,  and  all  very 
curious.  I  had  a  good  look  at  the  famous  emerald 
image  of  Buddha,  which  is  about  a  foot  and  a  half 
high,  and  said  to  be  carved  from  a  single  emerald. 
The  figure  sits  cross-legged,  and  is  always  spoken  of 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  199 

as  the  '  emerald  idol,'  but  it  did  not  look  any  better  to 
me  than  dull,  green  glass.  It  is  kept  in  the  most 
splendid  of  the  temples  in  the  king's  gardens.  His 
gardens,  and  those  of  the  minister  of  state,  are  beauti 
ful,  and  in  what  is  called  the  'King's  Lotus  Garden' 
there  are  a  number  of  temples  and  halls  of  fine  archi 
tecture,  according  to  Eastern  ideas,  and  of  exquisite 
workmanship.  Surrounded  as  they  are  by  everything 
rich  and  tropical,  they  fulfil  one's  dreams  of  an  oriental 
scene.  There  is  a  botanic  garden  and  a  '  zoo,'  both 
full  of  fine  and  rare  specimens.  I  saw  the  stables  where 
the  king's  elephants  are  kept,  and  also  paid  a  visit 
to  the  sacred  white  elephants,  which  are  only  freaks  of 
nature,  and  though  their  skin  is  lighter  than  common 
elephants,  it  is  far  from  white.  The  sight  of  the  troop 
of  war  elephants,  in  all  their  trappings  and  housings  of 
war  and  glittering  with  gold  and  silver,  is  a  magnifi 
cent  spectacle. 

"After  I  had  paid  my  visits,  all  those  whom  I  had 
called  upon,  including  the  second  king,  came  and 
returned  the  attention,  so  I  had  to  keep  up  a  firing  of 
salutes  and  entertaining  for  two  or  three  days.  I  also 
received  from  the  second  king  and  other  dignitaries 
presents  of  a  bear,  a  monkey,  a  cat,  and  an  odd  sort  of 
a  necklace  and  some  other  queer  things.  The  monkey 
is  an  immense  specimen,  and  we  are  all  afraid  of  him. 
The  boatswain  has  him  in  charge  and  has  dressed  him 
in  clothes,  and  it  is  a  pity  some  of  those  Middle  Age 
painters  did  not  have  him  for  a  model  to  paint  the  devil 
from,  for  he  is  a  terrible  looking  fellow  and  makes  you 
think  of  him  at  once.  He  is  always  devising  means  to 
get  himself  free,  and  then  he  makes  for  my  cabin,  and 
every  now  and  then  he  will  get  in.  As  monkeys  are 
very  imitative,  I  adopt  a  course  of  high  politeness,  and 
he  proceeds  to  follow  my  example,  only  this  does  not 


200  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

prevent  him  from  suddenly  seizing  some  article  and 
flinging  it  to  the  floor  with  a  crash  while  he  gives  me 
an  engaging  grin.  As  soon  as  I  can,  I  get  word  to 
the  boatswain,  who  comes  and  captures  him.  The  cat 
is  tailless  and  of  singular  color  and  shape. 

"Last  Friday  arrangements  were  made  for  me  to 
visit  the  first  king.  Mr.  Sickles  went  with  me  and 
some  of  my  officers.  We  arrived  at  the  palace  about 
four  o'clock  p.  m.,  when  we  were  met  by  the  king's 
interpreter,  Mr.  Alabaster,  who  conducted  us  to  the 
king's  presence.  We  passed  through  a  gateway 
guarded  by  soldiers,  who  presented  arms  in  European 
fashion,  and  then  through  a  passage,  by  the  harem 
apartments,  where  we  caught  glimpses  of  dark  eyes 
peering  at  us.  The  last  hall  we  passed  through,  I 
noticed,  was  surrounded  with  busts  and  portraits  of 
European  kings.  The  next  room  was  a  large  saloon, 
and  here  the  king  \vas  waiting  to  receive  us,  which  he 
did  in  a  most  friendly  manner.  He  was  dressed  in 
white  stockings,  reaching  nearly  to  the  knee,  and  low 
shoes,  Siamese  trowsers,  and  a  black  European  frock- 
coat.  He  invited  us  to  be  seated,  and  cigars  were 
passed,  and  then  proceeded  to  talk  to  us  very  pleasantly 
in  good  English,  which  he  pronounces  very  carefully. 
He  inquired  if  we  had  seen  the  temples,  gardens,  and 
places  of  interest  in  Bangkok,  and  suggested  anything 
interesting  that  remained  for  our  sightseeing,  and  made 
polite  inquiries.  At  the  end  of  about  a  half  an  hour  we 
rose  to  depart,  but  the  king  asked  us  to  remain  and  see 
some  dancing  by  his  Lakuan  girls.  This  was  the  same 
brilliant  spectacle  that  I  have  spoken  of  before, — the 
graceful  girls  moving  about  in  rich,  high-colored 
dresses  and  jewels,  and  making  a  dazzling  picture. 

'k  The  next  day  (Saturday)  we  paid  a  visit  to  the  sec 
ond   king.     All   the   ceremonies   of  receiving   us   were 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       2OI 

like  those  of  the  day  before,  except  that  the  surround 
ings  were  not  quite  so  fine.  This  king  is  bright  and 
agreeable,  asked  many  questions,  and  seemed  much 
interested  about  the  United  States.  He  invited  us  to 
accompany  him  to  the  cremation  of  a  nobleman,  whose 
funeral  pile  he  was  to  honor  by  applying  the  torch. 

"  The  place  where  the  ceremony  was  to  be  performed 
was  across  the  river,  and  we  proceeded  to  it  in  the  royal 
boats.  Here  we  found  the  hero  of  the  occasion,  namely, 
the  corpse,  in  a  coffin,  which  rested  on  a  bier  of  fire 
proof  masonry.  The  bier  was  built  in  the  centre  of  a 
square,  and  the  funeral  was  being  celebrated  like  a  fes 
tival.  Soldiers  were  parading  to  music,  puppet  shows 
and  showmen  were  performing,  and  everything  looked 
very  bright  and  gay.  We  ascended  to  a  sort  of  veranda 
on  one  side  of  the  square,  and  presently  the  second 
king  was  handed  a  torch.  By  his  side  was  a  large, 
artificial  crocodile,  and  when  he  applied  his  torch  to 
the  tail  of  this  animal,  the  fire  passed  through  its  body 
and  was  spit  from  its  mouth,  so  that  it  struck  the  com 
bustible  material  within  the  bier,  and,  igniting  the  pile, 
consumed  the  corpse.  This  singlar  firework,  I  was  told, 
had  some  religious  significance.  I  have  found  a  good 
deal  of  fetich  worship  among  the  Siamese  that  reminds 
me  of  my  old  discoveries  in  Africa. 

"  Going  to  dinner  one  clay  with  the  minister  of  state, 
the  entertainment  lasted  till  about  midnight,  and  the 
conversation  flowed  in  an  easy  manner,  as  at  any  gen 
tleman's  table.  Dinner  finished,  the  minister  showed 
me  the  women's  quarters.  They  were  below  the  state 
apartments,  and  we  descended  first  to  a  sort  of  court, 
where  a  fountain  was  playing  in  the  centre  of  a  large 
pool  of  water.  It  was  surrounded  by  handsome  col 
umns,  and,  so  far  as  I  could  see  in  the  dim  light,  was 
an  elegant  and  ornamental  spot.  I  was  rather  startled 


202  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

when  a  big  crocodile  splashed  up  in  the  water  close  by 
me.  The  women  were  asleep  in  latticed  compartments 
that  reminded  me  of  our  cattle-cars  ;  there  were  passage 
ways  between,  and  the  ventilation  seemed  good.  The 
minister  is  said  to  be  kind  to  his  harem,  which  com 
prises  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  women. 

"All  the  great  officials  returned  my  visits  and  came 
on  board  the  Ashuelot,  and  I  have  had  about  all  the 
salutes  and  ceremony  that  I  can  stand.  The  Siamese 
greatnesses  have  names  that  can  only  be  measured  by 
the  yard.  The  king's  is  Prabat  Somdetch  Phra  Para- 
menda  Maha  Ehulaloukoru.  But  this  is  beaten  by  that 
of  the  minister  for  the  Northern  Provinces,  which  is 
Chow  Somdetch  Pou  Broma  Wong-tee-to  Chowfah 
Mahah  Malah  Krom  Pra  Bamrap-parapak." 

"JANUARY  19,  1879. 

"The  time  has  been  filled  since  I  wrote  last  with 
sight-seeing  and  entertainments,  and  I  am  too  tired  to 
give  you  much  of  a  description.  Mr.  Sickles  gave  us 
a  very  handsome  reception,  and  the  decorations  of  the 
consulate  were  remarkably  fine.  The  second  king  sent 
his  band  for  the  occasion,  and  there  was  dancing  in 
European  fashion  to  European  tunes.  The  minister  of 
state  gave  us  a  garden  party,  and  we  sat  in  a  beautiful 
pavilion  and  watched  the  Lakuan  girls  dance  ;  and  I 
dined  at  the  British  consul's  and  at  the  Portuguese. 

"  The  chief  event,  though,  was  my  trip  to  Ayuthia,  the 
ancient  capital  of  Siam.  It  is  one  hundred  miles  up  the 
river,  and  we  went  in  a  house-boat,  towed  by  a  steam 
launch,  both  placed  at  our  disposal  by  the  foreign  min 
ister.  Ayuthia  is  ten  miles  beyond  Bang-pa-in,  which 
is  the  first  king's  summer  residence,  and  where  we 
stayed,  everything  being  arranged  beforehand  for  our 
accommodation.  Indeed,  we  had  large  and  handsome 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       203 

quarters.  From  there  we  made  an  excursion  to  Ayuthia, 
of  which  little  remains  now  but  the  temples,  and  those 
are  disgusting  with  slime  and  insects  and  birds,  and 
are  falling  into  rapid  decay.  The  idols  are  fallen  over, 
and  everything  is  cracked  and  crumbling  that  belonged 
to  the  old  city  ;  but  the  elephant  stockade  there  is  an 
interesting  thing  to  strangers.  The  elephants  through 
out  the  state  are  looked  upon  as  the  property  of  the  king, 
and  they  are  not  allowed  to  be  killed.  At  certain  times 
of  the  year  the  wild  elephants  are  driven  into  the  stock 
ade  by  the  help  of  tame  ones.  There  they  are  kept  till 
subdued,  the  most  intelligent  are  selected,  and  the  rest 
turned  loose  again.  They  are  very  useful  in  Siam, 
especially  in  traveling  through  the  country,  and  they 
are  trained  for  war  purposes,  and  a  variety  of  uses. 
The  king  once  proposed  sending  a  number  to  America 
and  turning  them  loose  in  our  forests,  thinking  we  might 
find  them  as  useful  here  as  in  Siam  ;  but  the  offer  was 
declined,  with  thanks,  by  our  government. 

"It  is  rather  dangerous  business  being  about,  when 
the  elephants  are  tamed.  The  stockade  is  immensely 
high  and  strong,  and  within  it  are  huge  posts  to  which 
the  beasts  are  fastened.  There  is  a  high  platform  built 
for  spectators  ;  but  when  the  elephants  are  being  driven 
in,  there  is  no  place  which  is  very  safe,  but  it  is  a  most 
exciting  scene.  They  tell  a  great  many  stories  here 
about  the  wisdom  of  the  elephants,  and  what  they  can 
be  taught,  but  I  did  not  have  time  to  verify  them.  The 
king  is  trying  to  make  a  fine  summer  resort  of  Bang- 
pa-in.  He  is  laying  out  the  grounds  about  his  palace  in 
artificial  lakes  and  grottos,  and  is  making  use  of  a  good 
many  European  ideas  in  his  architecture  and  gardening. 
He  is  intending  to  build  villas,  and  a  church  for  the  use 
of  visitors. 

"In  the  great  statues  of  granite  about  the  kings'  pal- 


204  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

aces  and  temples,  and  in  much  of  the  solid  work  done 
for  the  past  kings,  I  am  reminded  of  old  Chinese  stone 
work,  and  have  an  idea  the  same  class  of  workmen 
must  have  been  employed.  I  did  not  stay  long  enough 
to  make  much  of  a  study  of  Siam  ;  but  it  seemed  to 
me  to  be  a  very  interesting  problem. 

"  There  is  an  odd  mixture  of  Western  ideas,  and  an 
interest  in  Western  matters,  which  is  not  found  in  other 
Oriental  countries.  They  all  speak  English  well,  in 
what  I  might  call  the  court  circle,  and  there  certainly 
must  have  been  some  rulers  here  of  marked  ability  and 
of  active  minds.  I  heard  much  admiration  expressed 
for  the  United  States,  and  they  were  eager  to  hear  about 
it.  One  of  the  princes  is  named  George  Washington." 

<;  AT  SEA, 
"January  21,  1879. 

"  I  am  now  on  my  way  to  Saigon.  Have  been  inter 
ested  in  having  target  practice,  and  in  testing  the  speed 
of  the  ship.  I  took  on  board,  for  first-class  boys,  two 
of  the  nephews  of  the  foreign  minister,  at  his  request. 
I  had  to  return  the  huge  monkey  with  which  I  was  pre 
sented  in  Siam.  He  proved  intractable,  and  was  a  terror 
to  most  of  the  seamen.  I  sent  him  back  with  the  most 
polite  explanations  I  could  think  of. 

"  I  forgot  to  mention  that  at  the  consul's  reception  I 
met  the  wife  of  a  missionary  who  was  a  very  intelligent, 
sensible  woman,  and  found  in  talking  with  her  that  she 
had  been  at  school  with  Aunt  Anne,  and  with  Mrs. 
Jewell,  when  they  and  she  were  girls.  It  seemed  very 
odd  to  talk  to  an  American  woman  about  such  things 
and  such  people  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom  of  Siam. 
Naturally,  as  an  American  missionary,  this  lady  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  Ashuclot  and  everything  on 
board.  She  found  out  everything  about  me,  and  pub- 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       205 

lished   some   very   complimentary  things    in    the    Siam 
Advertiser,  which  I  send  you." 

The  notices  in  the  Advertiser  of  January,  1879,  are 
as  follows  : 

"  The  visit  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Ashuclot  to  our  port  was 
a  rich  treat  to  the  foreign  residents,  and  especially  to 
the  American  community,  who  had  good  reason  to  be 
proud  of  the  noble  men  who  have  cheerfully  exposed 
their  lives  in  defence  of  their  country  and  compatriots 
in  all  parts  of  the  w^rld. 

"  The  captain,  George  H.  Perkins,  is  an  historic 
character,  and  his  heroic  deeds  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  in  crushing  the  late  rebellion  in  the  United 
States,  made  him  an  object  of  much  interest.  His  very 
modest  and  unassuming  manners  made  him  all  the 
more  a  great  favorite. 

"Were  Stanley  about  to  visit  us,  we  should  receive 
him  as  a  hero,  and  feel  there  should  be  an  ovation  in 
his  honor.  He  traveled  amid  great  dangers,  and  was  a 
pioneer  in  the  most  arduous  and  perilous  enterprise. 
When  General  Grant  comes  here,  every  one  will  be 
eager  to  honor  him,  not  only  because  he  was  president, 
but  for  his  efforts  in  putting  down  a  great  rebellion. 

"  Are  we  aware  that  in  Captain  Perkins  of  the  AsJme- 
lot,  Bangkok  entertained  a  hero,  combining  in  himself 
the  interests  which  we  centre  both  in  Stanley  and  in 
General  Grant? 

"  Captain  Perkins  was  engaged  three  years  in  Africa, 
before  the  last  American  war,  in  putting  down  the  slave- 
trade,  and  was  an  explorer  up  the  very  Congo  river 
which  at  present  claims  so  much  attention.  He  was  a 
very  prominent  man  in  the  United  States  navy  through 
out  the  struggle  in  putting  down  the  rebellion.  He  was 
the  first  to  steam  through  those  hot  lines  of  defence  on 


206  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  to  enter  New  Orleans,  and 
demand  the  city's  surrender.  He  was  a  great  favorite 
of  the  renowned  Farragut,  and  was  with  him  in  his 
most  prominent  battles.  In  the  following  article  on  the 
taking  of  Mobile,  there  is  evidence  which  shows  that 
Captain  Perkins  is  really  the  man  who  decided  the  vic 
tory  for  the  loyal  side." 

Here  follows  an  extract  from  Captain  Parker's  book 
on  the  battle  of  Mobile. 

Again  the  Siam  Advertiser  says  : 

"It  is  a  pleasure  to  see  such  intelligent  service  as 
one  witnesses  on  board  the  Ashuelot  where  everything 
is  done  with  a  will.  Captain  Perkins,  by  his  genial, 
hearty  manner,  good  common-sense,  and  quick  and 
ready  tact,  has  won  for  himself  high  consideration  in  a 
short  space  of  time,  and  great  regret  is  expressed  that 
his  orders  called  him  away  so  soon  and  compelled  him 
to  decline  much  hospitality.  The  trip  to  Ayuthia,  the 
dinners  at  II.  B.  M.'s  consulate,  and  at  the  foreign 
minister's,  concluded  the  festivities  in  honor  of  Captain 
Perkins." 

"WEDNESDAY,  February  5,  1879. 

"  We  are  now  steaming  up  the  Gulf  of  Tonquin,  and 
so  along  the  coast  to  Hong  Kong.  After  coming  down 
the  Gulf  of  Siam,  we  rounded  Cambodia  Point,  and 
went  to  Saigon  in  Cochin-China.  Saigon  belongs  to 
the  French.  Rear  Admiral  Lafont  is  the  governor- 
general,  and  there  were  three  naval  vessels  in  the  har 
bor,  and  several  small  gunboats.  The  town  is  regu 
larly  laid  out,  and  seemed  fairly  clean,  and  has  a  popu 
lation  of  five  thousand  Europeans  besides  the  Chinese, 
or,  more  properly,  Anamese. 

"  If  I  thought  Siam   a  terrible  place  for  beasts   and 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  207 

insects,  I  do  not  know  what  to  say  of  Saigon  and  its 
surroundings.  Snakes  of  the  worst  description  abound, 
and  as  for  tigers  they  infest  the  country,  and  are  very 
bold.  One  carried  off  the  lighthouse  keeper  the  other 
day,  and  as  they  soon  become  man-eaters,  you  are 
never  safe  from  them.  There  is  only  one  American 
resident  in  Saigon,  and  there  is  no  trade  with  us  ;  but 
the  exports  of  rice  are  very  large.  There  is  an  arsenal, 
dock-yard,  coal  depot,  etc.,  and  everything  for  supply 
ing  and  building  vessels,  and  the  revenues  support  the 
government  well.  I  received  visits  and  civilities  from 
the  French  officers,  and  was  entertained  at  dinner  by 
Admiral  Lafont  at  the  Government  House,  but  did  not 
regret  leaving  very  much.  If  you  look  up  Saigon  on 
the  map,  you  will  find  it  in  Cochin-China,  just  on  the 
borders  of  Anam. 

"It  seems  strange  enough  to  steam  along  this  coast, 
to  stop  at  these  populous  cities,  and  see  all  this  strange 
and  teeming  life,  of  beasts  as  well  as  human  beings,  all 
so  different  from  each  other,  and  so  wholly  different 
from  what  one  is  in  the  habit  of  considering  and  com 
prehending.  It  seems  as  if  I  were  in  a  dream. 

"Just  before  coining  here,  we  went  into  Touron  Bay 
on  the  coast  of  Anam.  You  will  not  find  this  on  ordi 
nary  maps,  but  it  is  quite  a  large  bay  and  town,  never 
theless.  We  found  the  inhabitants  in  a  terible  state  of 
destitution,  owing  to  the  failure  of  last  year's  crops. 
There  were  two  vessels  of  war  in  the  bay  flying  the 
Anamese  flag,  but  they  were  falling  to  pieces  ;  and 
there  were  two  barques,  one  French  and  one  English, 
which  had  brought  cargoes  of  rice.  About  the  bay 
were  villages  with  starving  people  and  there  was  no 
trade,  and  all  was  dilapidated  and  forlorn.  We  have 
been  detained  somewhat  by  unfavorable  weather,  but 
to-morrow  expect  to  make  the  harbor  of  Pak-hoi." 


208  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  FEBRUARY  n,  1879. 

"  Look  to  the  left  of  the  'Gulf  of  Tonquin,  and  you 
will  see  the  island  of  Hainan.  It  is  a  large  island,  and 
has  a  million  of  inhabitants.  I  visited  it  when  I  first 
came  out,  and  sent  home  a  report  about  it.  It  is  almost 
unknown  to  us,  and  is  difficult  of  access  anyway.  The 
people  are  hostile  to  strangers,  and  in  the  interior  they 
are  perfect  savages  and  are  fierce.  The  island  was  in 
a  state  of  commotion  owing  to  a  feud  between  two  pow 
erful  clans.  Imperialist  troops  had  been  sent  from 
China,  but  they  had  been  well  beaten,  and  were  wait 
ing  for  reinforcements.  There  was,  of  course,  no  trade 
and  no  shipping  in  the  harbors,  either  of  Pak-hoi  or 
Hoi-how7.  There  are  five  white  persons  at  Pak-hoi 
and  twelve  at  Hoi-how.  The  ports  were  only  open 
to  foreign  trade  about  two  years  ago.  The  number 
of  savages  in  the  interior  is  four  thousand.  Every 
thing  was  paralyzed  by  the  warlike  state  of  things,  but 
they  say  the  increase  of  trade  since  the  Chefoo  con 
vention  has  been  very  marked.  We  have  just  passed 
through  Now  Chow  channel  on  our  way  to  Hong  Kong, 
and  are  steaming  along  among  numerous  islands.  We 
are  not  having  much  good  weather,  and  the  rain  and 
mist  deprive  us  of  much  fine  scenery." 

"  HONG  KONG,  March  12,  1879. 

"  My  life  now  is  such  an  exchange  of  saluting  and 
visiting  and  naval  ceremony  that  I  feel  tempted  to  give 
you  a  little  journal  of  it,  for  it  will  do  you  inland  people 
good  to  know  more  about  a  man-of-war. 

"Wednesday,  February  12,  we  passed  Green  Island 
and  arrived  off' the  tower  in  Hong  Kong  harbor.  We 
fired  salutes  to  the  port  and  the  English  and  French 
admirals.  Our  salute  is  returned  by  the  shore  battery, 
the  English  man-of-war  Ironduke,  and  the  French 
man-of-war  Armide. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       209 

'*  The  next  day  the  commanding  officers  of  the  ships  of 
war  in  the  harbor  call  on  me  ;  then  the  consuls  from  various 
nationalities  pay  me  visits,  which  are  always  recognized 
with  a  salute  ;  then  I  send  an  officer  and  begin  investi 
gating  the  shipping  and  everything  that  comes  within 
my  province  to  attend  to,  in  connection  with  American 
interests.  In  the  meantime  mails,  official  and  otherwise, 
are  arriving,  reports  are  to  be  made  out,  inquiries 
coming  from  the  admiral,  meteorological  blanks  to  be 
filled  up,  and  countless  duties,  naval  and  otherwise. 
Invitations  come  from  dignitaries  for  various  entertain 
ments. 

"Monday,  February  16,  I  went  to  the  races,  which 
are  attended  by  the  governor  and  his  wife,  and  all  the 
fashion  of  Hong  Kong.  February  22d  we  dressed  ship 
'  rainbow,'  as  it  is  called,  in  honor  of  the  day,  and  as  I 
had  invited  the  English  and  French  ships  to  participate, 
they  also  dressed  ships,  American  ensign  at  the  main. 
This  was  at  sunrise.  Then  at  noon  we  fire  a  salute  of 
twenty-one  guns,  and  so  did  the  shore  battery,  and  the 
English  and  French  men-of-war. 

"February  24th  the  English  troop-ship  Himalaya 
arrived  with  the  Twenty-fourth  regiment,  called  the 
Inniskillings,  which  has  come  to  relieve  the  Seventy- 
fourth.  In  the  course  of  time  the  officers  of  the  regi 
ment  pay  me  visits,  and  my  evenings  are  filled  with 
dinners,  with  the  different  admirals  and  officials. 
Nearly  every  day  ships  of  war  come  in.  A  German 
one  has  just  arrived  from  Singapore.  A  Japanese 
corvette,  the  Seiki,  has  also  arrived  lately,  after  an 
absence  of  a  year,  being  the  first  Japanese  man-of-war 
ever  sent  to  Europe  from  Japan.  Sir  Thomas  Wade 
and  suite,  arriving  by  the  English  mail,  are  received 
with  salutes,  and  provided  with  a  guard  of  honor." 
14 


II O  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  MARCH  19,  1879. 

"You  must  not  expect  anything  but  skeleton  letters 
from  me  after  this,  just  the  merest  journals,  for  to-day 
the  mail  brought  me  my  detachment  from  the  Ashuelot, 
as  soon  as  Captain  Johnson  should  report.  I  may  be 
here  much  longer,  perhaps  two  months,  but  I  shall  be 
so  excited  preparing  for  and  thinking  about  coming 
home,  that  I  shall  be  too  impatient  to  write  much.  My 
navigating  officer,  Lieutenant  Chipp,  was  detached  and 
sailed  for  home  the  lyth.  He  is  a  splendid  officer,  and 
I  shall  feel  his  loss  greatly  if  I  am  here  much  longer.* 
That  same  day  was  St.  Patrick's  day,  and  the  governor 
of  Hong  Kong,  being  of  Irish  descent,  gave  a  dinner 
party  and  reception  in  its  honor,  which  I  attended  with 

imy  officers." 

"  MARCH  29,  1879. 

'"Just  as  the  time  comes  for  me  to  leave  China,  I  am 
picking  up  acquaintances  and  ceasing  to  feel  so  much 
of  a  stranger.  To-day  I  dined  at  the  Forbes's,  success 
ful  American  merchants  here,  who  live  delightfully, 
and  whose  hospitality  is  refreshing,  after  all  the  foreign 
ceremonies  I  have  to  go  through.  The  harbor  is  filling 
up  with  English  men-of-war,  and  dining  and  exchang 
ing  visits,  and  saluting,  are  incessant. 

•"News  has  come  that  General  Grant  and  his  suite 
will  arrive  here  about  the  middle  of  April.  The 
Vigilant,  the  Victor  Emanuel,  the  Ironduke^  the  Juno, 
the  Sheldrake,  the  Charybidis,  and  the  Moorhen  ;  the 
French  vessels  Armide  and  Cham-plain^  and  ten  Ori 
ental  mail  steamers,  are  in  port  just  now." 

"WEDNESDAY,   April   30,    1879. 

«'  The  French  mail  steamer  Irawaddy  has  just  come 
in  flying  the  American  ensign  at  the  main,  with  Gen- 

*This  was  the  Lieutenant  Chipp  who  lost  his  life  in  Ue  Long's  ill-fated 
Arctic  Expedition  in  the  Jeannette. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      211 

eral  Grant  and  suite  on  board.  They  are  coming  to 
visit  this  ship.  It  has  been  arranged  that  the  General 
on  leaving  the  Iraivaddy  shall  first  come  here  and 
remain  forty-five  minutes.  He  is  to  be  brought  here 
by  the  steam  launch  Victoria" 

"  APRIL   22,    1879. 

"  I  will  describe  to  you  a  little  what  has  been  going 
on  with  reference  to  General  Grant  and  his  reception 
here,  \vhile  I  have  a  little  quiet.  His  arrival  was 
announced  by  a  gun  from  the  Peak,  in  time  for  most  of 
the  shipping  in  the  harbor  to  dress  ship,  and  it  made  a 
pretty  sight.  When  the  Iraivaddy  came  in,  all  the 
ships  dipped  flags,  and  the  mail  steamer  acknowledged 
it.  Then  quite  a  party,  including  all  the  prominent 
American  officials  in  China,  went  on  board  the  mail 
steamer  to  receive  the  General.  The  next  move  was 
to  come  to  the  As/ntelot." 

I  quote  an  account  of  this  visit  from  the  Hong  Kong 
papers  : 

"At  five  minutes  to  four  the  double  party,  consisting 
of  General  Grant  and  suite,  and  those  who  were  calling 
upon  him,  entered  the  Victoria,  and  proceeded  to  the 
U.  S.  S.  Ashuelot.  The  gallant  General,  on  setting 
his  foot  on  the  deck,  over  which  floated  the  stars  and 
stripes,  received  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns,  and  the 
national  flag  was  run  up  at  the  fore  and  the  yards 
manned.  [We  may  here  mention  that  General  Grant 
is  the  only  living  American — the  President  excepted — 
who  is  entitled  to  this  honor  of  the  flag  at  the  fore.] 
General  Grant  was  then  introduced  to  Captain  Perkins, 
and  introductions  ensued  between  the  entire  party  and 
the  officers  of  the  ship. 

**  Captain  Perkins  and  his  officers,  in   full  uniform, 


212  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

received  the  General  and  party  near  the  gangway. 
The  seamen  and  marines,  who  presented  arms  to  the 
General,  were  formed  on  deck.  The  whole  vessel 
seemed  in  beautiful  order  -and  condition,  everything 
shining  as  brightly  as  a  new  pin.  Captain  Perkins, 
giving  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Grant,  then  led  the  party  from 
the  quarter-deck  and  offered  them  refreshments.  The 
time  allotted  for  their  visit  to  the  Ashuelot  was  three 
quarters  of  an  hour.  Captain  Perkins  then  escorted 
his  visitors  on  board  the  Victoria,  which,  lying  to, 
until  the  General  had  received  the  salute  of  departure 
of  twenty-one  guns, — the  marines  presenting  arms, 
and  the  seamen  manning  the  yards, — steamed  slowly 
towards  Murray  Pier.  The  Japanese  corvette  Nisson 

then  saluted." 

"  MAY  4,  1879. 

"  I  have  sent  you  papers  from  Hong  Kong  giving  an 
account  of  General  Grant's  arrival  and  stay  of  a  few 
days.  As  he  and  his  party  wished  to  visit  Canton,  the 
Ashuelot  has  been  chosen  to  carry  them,  and  I  expect 
to  have  a  busy  time.  They  have  been  handsomely 
entertained  here  by  the  English,  and  there  has  been  a 
great  deal  of  visiting  and  dining  and  decorating.  The 
General  gets  up  early  mornings  and  walks  about  the 
city  and  seems  to  take  in  everything.  I  am  a  good 
deal  impressed  by  him.  I  never  saw  less  airs  or  pre 
tension,  which  I  believe  is  like  all  really  great  men. 

"I  was  interested  in  hearing  from  Grant's  party,  all 
about  their  visit  at  Bangkok,  as  I  had  been  there  so 
recently.  The  Siamese  government  had  sent  a  steamer 
to  take  the  General's  party  from  the  mail  steamer,  but 
the  latter  had  run  aground  and  was  sticking  in  the  mud 
down  the  gulf.  An  awful  storm  came  on,  and  every 
body  on  the  mail  steamer  was  drenched  through. 
Finally  the  officers  on  the  government  launch  got 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  213 

anxious,  and  started  down  the  gulf  to  explore,  and 
found  the  General's  party  in  a  dismal  condition.  The 
party  was  large  for  the  steam  launch,  and  everybody 
was  wet  and  crowded  and  uncomfortable.  The  rain 
poured  and  there  were  heavy  squalls,  and  they  had  to 
be  transferred  in  boats.  After  getting  under  way  the 
party  were  very  mad  to  find  that  two  Boston  '  globe 
trotters,'  as  they  called  them,  had,  with  the  character 
istic  cheek  of  persons  from  that  locality,  crowded 
unperceived  into  the  General's  party  without  leave  or 
license. 

"The  General  and  his  party  said  that  they  were 
magnificently  lodged  in  Bangkok,  and  they  were  enthu 
siastic  about  their  visit.  The  king  had  a  display  of 
war  elephants  for  them,  and  they  were  given  a  ball, 
a  trip  to  Ayuthia,  and  had  every  attention  during  their 
visit  of  six  days — only  the  weather  was  rainy.  I  extract 
from  the  Hong  Kong  Press  the  following  description  of 
General  Grant's  visit  to  Canton  : 

"  '  On  Monday,  May  5,  General  Grant  and  party  left 
Hong  Kong  on  a  visit  to  Canton  and  the  Portuguese 
colony  of  Macao.  They  arrived  at  Murray  Pier  shortly 
before  eight  o'clock,  accompanied  by  Governor  and 
Mrs.  Hennessey,  and  the  government  steam  launch 
being  ready,  they  embarked  for  the  U.  S.  S.  Ashuclot, 
Captain  Perkins.  Having  saluted  the  General  with 
twenty-one  guns  on  his  stepping  aboard,  the  Ashuelot 
left  her  moorings  for  the  "  City  of  Rams." 

"  k  Upon  gaining  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Ashuelot^ 
Captain  Perkins,  in  an  elegant  little  speech,  presented 
Mrs.  Grant  with  a  magnificent  bouquet  sent  on  board 
by  the  American  shipmasters  at  present  in  Hong  Kong. 
Mrs.  Grant  thanked  her  countrymen  for  their  kind 
attention,  and  Captain  Perkins  for  the  complimentary 
manner  in  which  it  was  conveyed  to  her. 


214  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

"  '  The  weather,  on  leaving,  was  anything  but  pleas 
ant,  and  the  rain  squalls  and  gusts  of  wind  were  such 
as  to  drive  most  of  the  party  below.  This  weather  con 
tinued  for  some  time,  but  when  approaching  Ma-chow, 
it  began  to  clear,  and  by  the  time  the  Ashuelot  reached 
the  island  of  Suichan  at  about  noon,  the  sun  shone  out, 
and  a  cool  breeze  blowing  made  it  very  pleasant  on  deck. 

"  «  It  seemed  to  be  well  understood  on  the  river  boats 
and  Chinese  gunboats  that  were  encountered  on  the 
way  up  that  the  Ashuelot  carried  a  distinguished  per 
sonage,  as  the  dipping  of  the  ensign  was  never  omitted 
in  a  single  instance,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  steamer 
near  Chuempee  she  was  met  by  a  Chinese  gunboat 
specially  sent  to  escort  the  Ashuelot  up  the  river,  the 
Chinese  admiral  at  Canton  sending  down  his  card  to 
General  Grant. 

"  'At  certain  points  of  the  river,  salutes  were  fired  as 
the  vessel  passed  up,  and  at  Anunghoy  Island,  the  bat 
teries  wrere  manned  by  troops,  who  displayed  their  ban 
ners,  while  at  Wantong  hundreds  of  flags  of  every  color, 
floating  on  staves  stuck  in  the  ground,  and  backed  up 
by  the  green  hills,  presented  a  very  gay  appearance. 
At  half-past  one  the  captain  and  officers  of  the  Ashue 
lot  entertained  the  distinguished  party  at  tiffin,  which 
was  in  this  case  a  most  sumptuous  banquet. 

"  *  Soon  after  five  o'clock,  when  at  the  bottom  01 
Whampoa  Reach,  the  Ashuelot  was  boarded  by  the 
captain  of  the  Viceroy's  gunboat  Tsing--po,  accom 
panied  by  two  mandarins,  bearing  the  cards  of  the 
Viceroy  of  Canton,  the  Tartar  General,  the  Governor 
of  Canton,  the  Provincial  Judge,  and  the  Intendant  of 
Customs.  Salutes  were  fired,  the  Tsing-po  manned 
yards,  and  the  Ashuelot  was  hove  to.  After  the  man 
darins  had  fulfilled  their  mission,  they  left  the  Ashuelot, 
which  proceeded  on  its  journey. 


LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  215 

"  'At  nine  o'clock  she  reached  Shameen,  having  been 
delayed  by  wind  and  tide.  Here  there  was  a  great 
display  of  lanterns  at  the  consulate,  and  twenty  war 
junks,  anchored  in  line  opposite,  were  illuminated. 
The  Chinese  gunboats  also  illuminated  and  burned 
signal  lights  and  fired  rockets  in  answer  to  the 
AsJmelot.  The  United  States  consul  then  came  off  to 
the  steamer  and  General  Grant  and  party  returned  with 
him  to  the  consulate. 

"  'At  the  landing  place  of  Shameen  a  mat  erection 
had  been  raised,  which  was  wreathed  with  green  and 
tastefully  decorated  with  pot  plants  and  ferns,  and  a 
large  display  of  bunting.  It  was  too  late  to  carry  out 
the  arrangement  which  had  been  made  for  a  reception, 
and  this,  therefore,  did  not  take  place  in  a  formal  man 
ner,  but  a  great  number  went  down  to  meet  the  party 
as  they  landed,  and  the  'three  cheers'  given,  as  the 
General  appeared  on  Shameen,  must  have  been  heard 
over  the  greater  part  of  Honan. 

"'At  eight  o'clock  on  Tuesday,  salutes  were  ex 
changed  by  the  AsJmelot  and  the  Chinese  gunboats, 
and  the  AsJmelot  was  kept  constantly  saluting  through 
out  the  morning  by  Chinese  displays  of  bunting.  At 
the  consulate,  the  General  and  his  party  received  vis 
itors.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  General  and  his  party,  and 
the  captain  and  officers  of  the  AsJmelot,  went  to  pay 
a  visit  to  the  Viceroy  at  his  Yamen.  They  went  in 
chairs,  and  the  party  were  headed  by  mounted  man 
darins  and  a  body  of  troops.  Traffic  had  been  stopped , 
and  each  crossing,  or  end  of  a  street,  was  kept  by 
troops.  This  was  necessary,  as  the  pressure  to  get 
a  sight  of  the  illustrious  warrior  and  statesman  was  in 
some  places  tremendous,  and  it  was  as  much  as  the 
soldiers  could  do  to  keep  the  crowd  back.  The  dis 
tance  from  the- United  States  consulate  to  the  Viceroy's 


2l6  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

Yamen  is  three  miles,  and  the  whole  route  was  lined 
by  Chinese,  to  the  number  of  tens  of  thousands. 
General  Grant  said  he  never  saw  such  a  line  of  faces, 
and  his  estimate  is,  that  at  least  a  hundred  thousand 
persons  sawr  the  procession  of  chairs  pass  by. 

"  '  On  arriving  at  the  Ti  Ping  Gate,  the  General  was 
saluted  in  Chinese  fashion,  and  this  salute  was  repeated 
on  entering  the  city  at  the  Qui  Dehr  Gate.  On  arriv 
ing  at  the  gate  of  the  Viceroy's  Yamen,  a  salute  of 
twenty-one  guns  was  fired,  and  the  party  filed  through 
two  lines  of  Tartar  troops  armed  with  rifles.  These 
presented  arms  in  European  fashion, — as  was  also  done 
on  passing  the  city  boundary, — and  the  word  of  com 
mand  was  given  in  English.  The  chairs  were  depos 
ited  inside  the  Yamen  proper,  and  here  four  or  five 
hundred  military,  and  other  mandarins,  lined  the 
approach  to  the  Viceroy  and  his  suite. 

"  '  The  party  were  then  introduced  according  to  their 
rank  to  the  Viceroy,  the  Governor  General,  and  the 
Acting  Governor  of  Canton  ;  to  the  Tartar  General,  the 
Imperial  Commissioner,  the  Deputy  Tartar  General, 
and  the  Assistant  Tartar  General.  The  party  being 
received  by  the  Chinese  officials,  the  Viceroy  himseh 
led  General  Grant  to  a  seat.  The  officials  distributed 
themselves  among  the  foreigners,  while  the  party  were 
being  seated  in  a  semicircle  in  the  reception-room. 
By  the  side  of  each  guest  was  placed,  on  massive  tea 
poys,  in  delicate  Chinese  cups,  tea  made  a  la  Chinoise, 
and  a  lively  conversation  took  place  between  the  prin 
cipal  officials  and  principal  visitors,  which  was  inter 
preted  by  Mr.  Chester  Holcombe,  charge  d'affaires  of 
the  United  States,  who  had  come  from  Peking  to  wel 
come  General  Grant ;  and  by  the  Chinese  interpreter 
attached  to  the  United  States  consulate  at  Canton. 

"  «  The  Chinese  mandarins  were  cordial  in  their  man- 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       217 

ner  and  laid  aside  much  restraint.  They  wore  the 
different  buttons  of  their  rank,  and  the  Viceroy  had  an 
extra  batch  of  aides-de-camp  in  attendance.  At  the 
sounding  of  a  bell,  the  Viceroy  rose  and  conducted 
General  Grant  to  another  apartment,  which  was,  how 
ever,  so  distant  that  it  required  about  a  five-minutes' 
walk  to  reach  it.  The  party  and  officials  formed  a  pro 
cession,  with  due  regard  to  precedence,  and  marched 
to  a  room  where  refreshments  had  been  laid  on  a  large 
table  in  a  very  handsome  apartment.  Seats  had  been 
placed  for  the  exact  number  of  guests,  whose  cards  had 
been  sent  early  in  the  morning,  and  when  all  were 
arranged  in  place,  the  sight  presented  was  a  very  fine 
spectacle,  as  will  be  easily  imagined, — the  naval,  mil 
itary,  and  consular  uniforms  contrasting  well  with  the 
rich  dresses  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  throng  of  at  least 
three  hundred  servants  in  fresh  costumes,  of  different 
nationalities,  forming  the  background.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  the  glasses  and  knives  and  forks,  all  the  mate 
rial  of  the  table  was  Chinese,  and  consisted  of  the  finest 
of  that  ceramic  ware  for  which  China  is  so  celebrated. 
The  Viceroy  pledged  his  guests  repeatedly,  and  seemed 
to  enjoy  his  Clicquot.  After  about  eighty  dishes  had 
been  discussed,  and  tea  had  again  been  served,  a  signal 
was  given  by  the  Viceroy,  and  each  guest  was  pre 
sented  with  his  hat  by  a  servant,  while  other  servants 
brought  lights,  and  cigars  being  handed  round,  the 
procession  reformed  and  returned  to  the  reception-room, 
where  the  visitors  took  their  leave.  General  Grant's 
party  returned  to  the  consulate  by  the  same  route  as 
they  came,  receiving  the  same  salutes. 

"  '  On  the  evening  of  this  day  (Tuesday)  invitations 
to  dinner  for  Wednesday  were  received  at  the  consulate 
from  the  Viceroy  for  the  same  party  who  visited  him 
Tuesday  afternoon.  On  Wednesday  morning  the  Vice- 


2l8       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

roy  and  other  officials  called  upon  General  Grant  at  the 
consulate.  The  Tartar  General  came  first,  with  an 
escort  of  attendants  and  Tartar  soldiers.  He  came  in 
a  chair  and  his  aides-de-camp  were  mounted  on  stout 
little  ponies.  He  took  his  leave  at  the  end  of  half  an 
hour,  and  about  ten  o'clock  the  noise  of  gongs  and  loud 
shouting  announced  the  approach  of  the  Viceroy.  His 
procession  presented  quite  an  imposing  appearance  as 
it  advanced  through  the  trees  from  the  east  gate.  The 
other  military  mandarins  succeeded  him,  and  the  visit 
ing  continued  till  about  two,  after  which  the  Shameen 
returned  to  its  usual  quiet. 

"  '  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  United  States  consul  at  Canton, 
entertained  a  party  at  tiffin  to  meet  General  Grant,  and 
at  five  in  the  afternoon  the  General  and  suite,  and  Cap 
tain  Perkins  and  two  of  the  officers  of  the  Ashuelot^  left 
the  consulate  in  chairs  for  the  Viceroy's  Yamen,  where 
they  were  to  be  entertained  at  dinner.  The  heat  was 
very  great,  and  for  the  naval  and  military  men  in  uni 
form  and  civilians  in  evening  dress  the  journey  in  chairs 
of  three  miles  to  the  Yamen  was  expected  to  be  a  severe 
task;  but,  fortunately,  a  cool  breeze  sprang  up,  and, 
clouds  obscuring  the  sun,  the  atmosphere  became  com 
paratively  cool,  and  they  traveled  comfortably. 

"  *  The  marines  of  the  Ashuelot  marched  in  front  of 
the  party,  and  the  route,  as  on  the  previous  day,  was 
kept  by  soldiers,  while  the  crowd  was  nearly  as  great. 
The  salutes  of  the  previous  day  were  also  repeated.  It 
was  getting  towards  dusk  when  the  party  arrived  at  the 
Yamen,  and  a  crowd  of  servants  were  lighting  up  the 
palace.  The  effect  of  the  thousands  of  tiny  lamps,  with 
here  and  there  enormous  lanterns,  lighting  the  halls 
and  rooms  to  the  top  of  their  vaulted  ceiling,  was  beau 
tiful,  and  a  single  glance  brought  to  the  mind  at  once 
whole  chapters  of  the  "Arabian  Nights." 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.     -219 

"  'The  Yamen  and  its  premises  are  of  great  extent, 
and  the  attendants  on  the  high  officials  and  the  attend 
ants  on  the  guests,  and  the  servants  attached  to  the 
place,  were  so  numerous  that  they  could  be  numbered 
by  hundreds.  They  were  all  dressed  in  silk  and  rich 
materials  of  various  colors,  which  added  to  the  bril 
liancy  of  the  scene.  The  Viceroy  and  five  of  the  high 
est  officials  received  the  guests,  and  after  the  ceremony 
of  shaking  hands  and  much  kotowing  was  gone  through 
with,  the  Viceroy  led  the  way  to  a  large  apartment 
where  seats  were  arranged  in  a  semicircle.  Here  tea 
was  served  while  the  guests  were  fanned  cool  by  a  row 
of  servants  with  palm-leaf  fans,  one  of  whom  stood 
behind  each  seated  guest.  Soon  after  "the  chimes  of 
silver-sounding  bells  "  announced  dinner,  and  the  party, 
forming  a  stately  procession  according  to  rank,  inarched 
slowly  through  several  courts  and  corridors,  crossed  an 
illuminated  garden,  and  ultimately  reached  the  dining- 
hall.'" 

I  quote  now  from  my  brother's  letters  : 

"  The  scene  here  was  brilliant  beyond  description. 
The  dining-hall  was  more  brilliantly  illuminated  than 
any  apartment  we  had  previously  visited.  It  opened 
on  three  sides  to  the  garden,  which  was  also  lighted, 
and  the  tables  were  arranged  in  rows  on  these  three 
sides  of  the  room.  They  were  loaded  with  exquisite 
china  and  glittering  with  massive  silver.  In  the  cen 
tre  of  the  room,  and  in  the  garden  beyond,  moved 
about  hundreds  of  servants  in  bright,  gay-colored 
dresses.  Each  table  was  laid  for  about  six  per 
sons,  which  included  one  or  two  Chinese  who  spoke 
English. 

"  The  Chinese  young  men  of  rank  who  were  present 
were  very  handsome  ;  nobody  could  have  thought  of 


220'      LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

them  as  belonging  to  an  inferior  race  in  any  way,  and 
although  they  were  very  polite  and  did  everything  that 
the  occasion  and  its  ceremonies  required  of  them,  yet 
it  seemed  to  me  that  they  could  hardly  conceal  the 
thought  that  we  were  of  a  much  inferior  race  to  them 
selves,  and  they  put  a  restraint  on  themselves  to  help 
showing  their  contempt  for  us. 

"Everything  about  the  dinner  was  Chinese  except 
the  knives  and  forks  and  glasses.  Chopsticks  of  carved 
ivory  and  silver  were  also  at  every  plate.  The  dinner 
— I  was  told  by  those  who  knew — was  a  combination 
of  Chinese  and  Mantehu  cookery.  They  say  that  in 
suggestions  to  appetite  and  appeals  to  luxurious  living 
the  Chinese  surpass  Europeans  in  the  arrangement  of 
their  feasts  ;  that  these  are  intended  as  works  of  art, 
and  that  every  course  is  planned  with  a  purpose  and 
intention  with  regard  to  the  appetite.  I  have  heard 
that  there  were  French  cooks  who  claimed  the  same 
merit  for  their  dishes  and  dinners.  The  dinner  was 
very  interesting,  as  most  of  the  dishes  were  calculated 
to  excite  the  curiosity  of  a  foreigner. 

"  Before  appealing  to  the  Chinese  gentlemen  at  the 
table  to  explain  them  to  us,  we  would  make  attempts  to 
guess  what  the  dishes  were.  I  should  think  there  were 
a  hundred  courses,  and  you  will  find  them  enumerated 
in  the  newspaper  accounts  which  I  send.  The  menu 
was  in  gold  characters  on  red  paper." 

From  a  newspaper  I  copy  that  part  of  the  bill  of  fare 
which  includes  the  most  curious  dishes  : 

"The  banquet  began  with  sweetmeats,  cakes,  fruit- 
rolls,  apricot  and  melon  seeds,  passed  in  little  dishes  ; 
then  eight  courses  of  meats,  fish,  and  vegetables;  then 
fruits,  cakes,  preserves,  and  honey ;  then  birds-nest 
soup,  roast  duck,  mushrooms,  pigeons'  eggs,  shark  fins, 


LETTERS  X)F    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  221 

and  seacrabs ;  then,  succeeding  each  other,  steamed 
cakes,  ham-pie,  vermicelli,  baked  white  pigeons,  stewed 
chicken,  lotus  seeds,  pea-soup,  ham  in  honey,  radish 
cakes,  date  cakes,  sucking  pigs  (served  whole),  French 
confectionery,  bellies  of  fat  fish,  roast  mutton,  pears  in 
honey,  the  soles  of  white  pigeons'  feet,  wild  ducks 
in  thorn-apple  jelly,  egg-balls,  lotus  seed  soup,  roast 
chicken,  fruit  and  vegetables,  Mongolian  mushrooms, 
sliced  flag-bulbs,  fried  egg-plant,  salted  shrimps,  orange 
tarts  and  cakes,  prune-sauce,  biche-de-mer,  ham  with 
white  and  with  red  sauce,  ham  combined  with  pump 
kins  and  squash,  almonds  and  beans,  and  so  on  beyond 
count.  Cigars  and  pipes  were  constantly  passed,  and 
the  Chinese  showed  themselves  familiar  with  European 
liquors. 

"  The  bill  of  fare  was  very  handsome  ;  the  represen 
tations  in  gold  or  red  being  emblematic  of  good  wishes 
for  the  happiness,  honors,  and  longevity  of  the  guest. 
The  dinner  occupied  an  unconscionable  time.  Many 
smoked  water-pipes,  held  by  the  servants  who  attended 
for  the  purpose,  while  General  Grant  and  Mr.  Borie 
walked  about  the  garden  between  some  of  the  courses. 
At  last,  the  dinner  finished,  the  company  adjourned  to 
another  apartment,  and  after  a  little  time  spent  here, 
they  reformed  in  order  of  precedence,  returned  to  the 
reception-hall,  and  soon  after  the  guests  took  leave  and 
returned  to  the  consulate.  A  Chinese  state  dinner  is 
certainly  a  thing  to  be  remembered. 

"The  evening  of  the  next  day  (Thursday)  Captain 
Perkins  and  other  officers  of  the  Ashuelot  attended  a 
dinner  at  the  United  States  consulate,  where  an  elab 
orate  dinner  was  given  in  English  style,  with  speech- 
making  and  complimentary  addresses  to  the  honored 
guest ;  while  the  consulate  was  made  a  mass  of  beauti 
ful  decorations  in  flowers  and  bunting,  and  the  whole 


222  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

was  concluded  by  a  display  of  fireworks  from  a  bamboo 
erection  of  sixty  feet  in  front  of  the  house,  where  there 
were  scenic  representations  in  the  finest  Chinese  style. 

"  Friday  morning,  May  10,  General  Grant  and  party 
went  on  board  the  Ashuelot  and  started  for  Macao.  The 
Viceroy  sent  magnificent  presents,  and  expressed  a 
desire  to  come  and  see  them  off;  but  they  started  too 
early  in  the  morning.  As  the  Ashuelot  proceeded  down 
the  river,  the  same  saluting  and  ceremonies  were  ob 
served  as  on  her  ascent.  Chinese  gunboats  met  her  at 
different  points  with  mandarins  bringing  cards  of  the 
different  officials.  The  same  military  display  was  made 
at  the  Amunghoy  and  Wantong  batteries.  Salutes  were 
fired  from  each  side  of  the  river,  which  were  returned 
gun  for  gun  from  the  Ashuelot. 

"  On  arriving  off  the  bay  at  the  back  of  Chuenkee,  a 
line  of  war  junks  were  also  at  anchor  ;  it  was  hardly  to 
be  expected  that  these  would  salute,  but  not  to  be  out 
done  in  compliments  to  the  General,  they  blazed  away, 
and  the  gunners  of  the  Ashuelot  were  again  piped  to 
quarters  for  saluting,  which  was  the  last  of  the  powder 
burning,  coming  down  the  Canton  river. 

**  As  they  approached  MaCao,  the  fine  view  of  the 
Portuguese  peninsula  was  obscured  by  a  cloud  of  mist. 
Here  saluting  began  again,  and  soon  a  steam  launch 
came  alongside  with  the  Portuguese  governor  and  other 
officials.  The  General  and  party  went  to  the  hotel  at 
Macoa,  where  they  passed  the  night,  and  the  next  morn 
ing  visited  the  grotto  of  Camoens  and  fantan.  At  the 
entrance  of  the  garden  of  Camoens,  an  arch  was  raised, 
bearing,  in  English,  the  words,  '  Welcome  to  General 
Grant.'  The  General  seemed  to  enjoy  the  much  needed 
rest  he  obtained  here,  and  on  Saturday  morning  the 
Ashuclot,  with  the  General's  party  on  board,  steamed 
out  of  the  harbor,  receiving  and  returning  salutes.  She 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      223 

expects  to  arrive  in  Hong  Kong  in  season  for  the  grand 
Chinese  chow-chow  dinner  and  garden  party." 

When  the  Ashuelot  reached  Hong  Kong,  it  was  found 
that  Commander  Johnson,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
succeed  Captain  Perkins  in  command  of  the  Ashuelot, 
had  arrived,  and  the  latter  lost  no  time  in  going  through 
the  ceremony  of  transferring  the  ship  to  him,  in  order 
to  be  free  for  immediate  departure  for  his  beloved 
home. 

In  the  Hong  Kong  papers  of  Monday,  May  12,  ap 
peared  the  following  : 

"  Captain  Perkins  gave  up  the  command  of  the 
U.  S.  S.  Ashuelot  on  Saturday  afternoon  to  Captain 
Johnson,  who  arrived  the  same  day  on  the  P.  M.  steamer 
Alaska.  We  hope  the  new  commander  will  be  as  pop 
ular  during  his  term  as  has  been  Captain  Perkins,  both 
afloat  and  ashore.  He  leaves  Hong  Kong  in  the  after 
noon  steamer  City  of  Tokio  for  San  Francisco." 

The  following  is  a  letter  from  John  Russell  Young, 
the  well-known  author  and  newspaper  correspondent, 
who  accompanied  General  Grant : 

"  HONG  KONG,  May  13,  1879. 
4<  DEAR  CAPTAIN  : 

<k  I  think  I  will  accept  your  offer  to  carry  my  pack 
age  of  photographs  to  the  United  States.  If  you  will 
have  them  put  in  the  express  office  in  California,  and 
mark  them  C.  O.  D.,  I  will  be  very  much  obliged.  I 
hope  it  will  not  be  too  much  trouble  ;  but  I  have  already 
had  so  much  kindness  from  you  that  I  am  tempted  to 
tax  you  further,  in  the  hope  that  when  we  meet  in 
America  I  may  have  the  opportunity  of,  in  a  slight 
degree,  repaying  it. 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"  JNO.  RUSSELL  YOUNG." 


224       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

In  1880  there  was  a  decided  effort  again  made  to 
induce  the  government  to  recognize  the  services  of  those 
naval  officers  who  had  distinguished  themselves  during 
the  Rebellion  ;  and  the  following  letter  is  a  specimen  of 
several  which  George  received  with  reference  to  the 
matter.  Such  letters  have  a  value  to  his  friends,  as  they 
show  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  those  capa 
ble  of  appreciating  his  merits  and  his  deserts  : 

"  MARE  ISLAND,  CAL., 

"March  18,  1880. 
"  MY  DEAR  PERKINS  : 

"It  is  seldom  I  venture  to  give  advice,  or  offer  sug 
gestions  concerning  other  people's  affairs,  but  the 
senate's  action  in  Jewett's  case  has  opened  afresh  the 
old  sore  of  Farragut's  injustice  to  those  officers  who 
served  under  him  so  faithfully  at  Mobile  ;  and  this  cir 
cumstance  has  induced  me  to  depart  from  my  rule,  and 
urge  you  to  demand  your  right  and  claim  the  promotion 
your  services  entitle  you  to. 

"  Your  war  record,  prior  to  the  fifth  of  August,*  is 
well  known  to  most  of  the  older  officers  in  the  service, 
and  your  fight  with  Buchanan  in  Mobile  Bay  should 
have  been  rewarded  by  advancement  to  a  higher  grade. 
This  is  not  my  opinion  alone,  but  that  of  all  the  officers 
who  participated  in  that  action.  Admirals  Strong,  Le 
Roy,  Jenkins,  or,  in  fact,  any  of  the  old  commanders  in 
Mobile  Bay,  could,  and  doubtless  would,  recommend 
your  promotion.  I  have  no  other  object  in  this  sugges 
tion  than  a  wish  to  see  justice  done,  and  I  offer  you  my 
services  most  heartily." 

At  about  this  time  I  began  to  collect  and  arrange  the 
letters  and  papers  belonging  to  my  brother.  Request 
had  been  previously  made  at  various  times  for  such  of 

*That  is,  at  New  Orleans. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      225 

these  as  I  might  have,  which  bore  upon  my  brother's 
part  in  the  war.  But  I  was  chiefly  stimulated  to  make 
an  effort  for  their  arrangement  and  preservation  by 
Capt.  George  E.  Belknap's  expressed  desire  to  write  a 
sketch  of  my  brother's  life. 

Captain  Belknap  came  from  New  Hampshire,  and 
stands  high  in  the  naval  profession,  being  distinguished 
for  his  connection  with  the  scientific  labors  of  the  service 
and  for  his  literary  attainments.  Though  in  an  older 
class  than  my  brother,  he  writes  : 

"  I  took  a  fancy  to  your  brother  when  we  were  at  the 
Naval  Academy  together.  His  career  all  through  since 
that  time  has  strengthened  my  regard,  and  I  shall  be 
only  too  glad  to  help  preserve  his  fame  and  make  his 
deeds  better  known  to  the  people  of  our  own  state,  who 
have  too  much  overlooked  what  their  naval  representa 
tives  did  during  the  war. 

"  The  writing  of  the  sketch  will  be  a  labor  of  love  on 
my  part.  I  feel  that  your  brother's  admirable  service 
can  only  be  done  justice  to  by  one  versed  in  naval  ways 
and  matters.  Then,  too,  besides  the  personal  regard  I 
have  for  him,  a  feeling  of  state  pride  enters  into  my 
desire  to  do  the  work. 

"  Pray  send  me  extracts  from  his  correspondence 
with  regard  to  New  Orleans.  I  think  the  passage  of 
the  forts  and  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  more  impor 
tant  in  the  results  at  the  time  than  the  battle  of  Mobile  ; 
and  your  brother's  part  in  it  was  most  brilliant. 

"  Some  day  an  historian  will  write  New  Hampshire's 
part  in  the  war,  and  then  your  brother's  letters  pertaining 
to  it,  both  as  to  personal  experience  and  opinion,  will 
be  valuable  to  coming  generations.  They  ought  to  be 
edited  and  placed  on  file  with  the  New  Hampshire  His 
torical  Society. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  such  pleasant  news  of  your 
15 


226  LETTERS    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

brother  Hamilton.*  Your  mother  will  begin  to  think 
she  rears  boys  only  for  Massachusetts  girls  to  carry  off! 
But  then  with  such  boys  as  hers,  she  can  only  be  proudly 
content !  Both  your  brothers  have  been  nominated  for 
the  Historic-Genealogical  Society  of  Boston,  and  I  hope 
they  will  accept." 

When  preparing  that  part  of  his  sketch  descriptive  of 
the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay,  Captain  Belknap  writes  : 

"  My  manuscript  does  not  include  all  that  is  to  be 
said  of  Mobile  Bay,  and  I  have  thought  of  writing 
and  asking  your  opinion  of  a  separate  sketch  to  be 
entitled,  '  Captain  Perkins  at  Mobile  Bay.'  With  re 
gard  to  all  the  histories,  monographs,  etc.,  about  it,  I 
think  your  brother  may  well  exclaim  with  Walpole, 
'  Anything  but  history,  or  history  must  be  false  ! ' ' 

In  a  letter  thanking  me  for  my  assistance  in  furnish 
ing  information,  data,  etc.,  for  his  sketch,  Captain  Bel- 
knap  says  : 

"  Fortunate  as  your  brother  ha"s  been  in  all  that  he 
has  undertaken,  his  letters  show  the  source  of  his  in 
spiration  and  success, — a  happy  home,  where  he  ever 
found  love  and  sympathy  and  praise  and  appreciation, 
wherever  they  were  due.  Not  all  have  been  so  happily 
circumstanced,  else  the  world  would  have  seen  more 
heroes  and  better  men." 

In  April,  1884,  Captain  Belknap's  sketch  of  George's 
life  and  services  to  his  country  was  published  in  the 
Bay  State  Monthly,  afterwards  called  the  Massachu 
setts  Magazine,  and  was  reprinted  in  the  Granite 
Monthly.  After  its  publication,  Captain  Belknap  re 
ceived  many  letters  from  naval  officers  expressing  the 
satisfaction  with  which  they  read  his  account  of  the 

*  His  marriage  to  Miss  Bliss,  of  Boston,  about  this  time. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      227 

deeds  of  one  of  their  number.     He  kindly  sent  some  of 
these  letters  to  me,  and  I  give  extracts  from  them  here  : 

"I  received  with  much  pleasure  the  Bay  State 
Monthly,  and  read  with  peculiar  interest  your  eloquent 
sketch  of  the  life  and  services  of  Capt.  George  Ham 
ilton  Perkins.  In  these  prosaic  times  I  fear  that  ser 
vices  like  those  of  Captain  Perkins  are  passing  rapidly 
from  the  memory  of  our  people,  and,  I  fear,  from  that 
of  our  own  comrades. 

"  Your  pen  has  furnished  a  truthful  narrative  of  one 
who  deserves  to  be  singled  out  for  the  distinguished 
part  he  bore  in  the  great  conflict,  and  I,  for  one,  thank 
you  for  it.  How  well  Captain  Perkins  bore  himself  at 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  you  have  gloriously  set 
forth. 

"  I  wish  that  a  naval  record  might  be  made,  in  whose 
pages  could  be  found  the  acts  of  heroism  and  self-devo 
tion  of  those  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships.  It  is 
right  that  their  deeds  should  be  noted  ;  that  now,  and 
in  time  to  come,  they  may  warm  the  hearts  and  fire 
the  blood  of  their  countrymen,  and  win  for  them  the 
merited  love  and  admiration  which  are  their  due." 

Another  friend  and  officer  writes  : 

"  You  have  only  expressed  in  fitting  terms  what  I  have 
always  understood,  that  in  any  other  country  Captain 
Perkins  would  have  received  handsome  recognition  from 
the  government.  Had  he  been  less  of  a  true  hero  he 
would  have  demanded  it  loudly  ;  but  he  was  always 
modest.  I  know  a  gentleman,  a  near  connection  of 
Perkins,  by  marriage,  who  told  me  that  as  long  as  he 
had  known  George,  and  as  intimately,  he  had  never 
heard  him  allude  to  the  Mobile  fight,  or  indeed  to  any 
of  his  active  services  during  the  war." 

In  March,  1882,  my  brother  received  his  appointment 


228       LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

as  captain  in  the  navy  by  regular  promotion.  In  the 
years  of  i884~'85,  he  made  a  year's  cruise  in  command 
of  Farragut's  famous  old  Hartford,  then  flagship  of  our 
Pacific  squadron. 

The  cruise  included  the  Pacific  ports  of  North  and 
South  America  and  Honolulu.  At  this  last  place,  he 
was  welcomed  by  many  old  friends  of  the  Lack  aw  anna 
days.  Years  did  not  seem  to  have  dimmed  his  spirit  of 
adventure.  He  went  over  his  old  cruising  grounds  to 
observe  with  interest  the  immense  progress  which  all 
that  western  coast  had  made  in  sixteen  years.  What 
had  then  been  the  wilds  of  California,  to  be  penetrated 
with  caution,  with  guides  and  on  horseback,  could  now 
be  comfortably  traversed  in  parlor  cars  on  railways, 
whose  course  lay  through  tracts  which  fairly  laughed 
with  their  harvests,  and  where  immense  establishments 
for  the  production  of  California  wine  and  the  preserva 
tion  of  her  fruits  gave  astonishing  proof  of  the  country's 
progress. 

In  South  America  he  found  the  Andes  scaled  by  a 
railway  which  took  one  to  a  height  where  the  very  con 
formation  of  the  natives  was  changed  by  constantly 
breathing  the  rarefied  air,  their  chests  becoming  of  an 
enormous  size.  But  all  this  progress  had  perhaps 
robbed  the  cruise  of  the  charm  of  the  new  and  difficult 
to  attain.  With  his  letters  home  came  packages  of 
photographs  which  formed  an  illustrated  comment  on 
the  cruise. 

I  had  thought  at  one  time  of  printing  in  this  volume 
all  the  pictures  in  my  possession  which  were  connected 
with  my  brother's  career  ;  but  as  this  book  is  compiled 
solely  with  reference  to  preserving  what  I  believe  to  be 
important  to  his  daughter,  and  as  such  a  course  would 
delay  greatly  its  being  put  in  print,  I  have  resolved  to 
defer  a  plan  which,  however,  might  add  much  to  its 
interest. 


LETTERS  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       229 

As  this,  then,  is  intended  as  a  memorial  of  his  char 
acter  and  deeds,  I  place  as  its  final  words  those  of 
George  W.  Cable  who  saw  him  with  Admiral  Bailey 
confront  the  mob  at  New  Orleans,  and  declared  that 
"It  was  one  of  the  bravest  deeds  I  ever  saw  done." 
And  also  Admiral  Farragut's  almost  dying  statement  to 
his  friend  McRitchie,  when  he  said  : 

"Perkins  was  young  and  handsome,  and  no  braver 
man  ever  trod  a  ship's  deck.  His  work  in  the  Chicka- 
sazu  did  more  to  capture  the  Tennessee  than  all  the  guns 
of  the  fleet  put  together." 


CAPTAIN  GEORGE  HAMILTON  PERKINS, 

I".  S.  Navv,  1884. 


A  SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE 


OF 


CAPT.  GEORGE  HAMILTON  PERKINS, 


U.  S.  N. 


BY  CAPT.  GEORGE  E.  BELKNAP,  U.  S.  N. 


Reprint  from  the  Massachusetts  Magazine. 


SKETCH. 


In  passing  up  the  Concord  and  Claremont  Railroad 
from  Concord,  the  observant  traveler  has  doubtless 
noticed  the  substantial  and  comfortable-looking  home 
stead  with  large  and  trim  front  yard,  shaded  by  thickly 
planted  and  generous  topped  maples,  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  road  after  crossing  the  bridge  that  spans 

"  Contoocook's  bright  and  brimming  river,1' 

at  the  pleasant-looking  village  of  Contoocookville  in 
the  northern  part  of  Hopkinton. 

There,  under  that  inviting  roof,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  George  Hamilton  Perkins,  the  eldest  son  in  a 
family  of  eight  children,  was  born,  October  20,  1836. 

His  father,  the  Hon.  Hamilton  Eliot  Perkins,  inher 
ited  all  the  land  in  that  part  of  the  town,  and,  in  early 
life,  in  addition  to  professional  work  as  a  counsellor-at- 
law  and  member  of  the  Merrimack  County  bar,  built 
the  mills  at  Contoocookville,  and  was,  in  fact,  the 
founder  of  the  thriving  settlement  at  that  point. 

His  paternal  grandfather,  Roger  Eliot  Perkins,  came 
to  Hopkinton  from  the  vicinity  of  Salem,  Mass.,  when 
a  young  man,  and  by  his  energy,  enterprise,  and  pub 
lic  spirit,  soon  impressed  his  individuality  upon  the 
community,  and  became  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
the  town. 

His  mother  was  Miss  Clara  Bartlett  George,  daugh 
ter  of  the  late  John  George,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  whose 


234  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

ancestors  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Watertown, 
Mass.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  active 
temperament,  prompt  in  business,  stout  in  heart,  bluff 
of  speech,  honest  in  purpose,  and  never  failing  in  any 
way  those  who  had  dealings  with  him. 

As  "  the  child  is  father  of  the  man,"  so  the  boyhood 
and  youth  of  Captain  Perkins  gave  earnest  of  those 
qualities  whicli  in  his  young  manhood  the  rude  tests  of 
the  sea  and  the  grim  crises  of  war  developed  to  the  full. 
4' No  matter"  was  his  first  plainly-spoken  phrase,  a 
hint  of  childish  obstinacy  that  foreshadowed  the  persist 
ence  of  maturer  years.  Among  other  feats  of  his  boy 
ish  daring,  it  is  told  that  when  a  mere  child,  hardly 
into  his  first  trousers,  he  went  one  day  to  catch  a  colt  in 
one  of  his  father's  fields  bordering  on  the  Contoocook. 
The  colt  declined  to  be  caught,  and  after  a  sharp 
scamper  took  to  the  river  and  swam  across.  Nothing 
daunted,  the  plucky  little  urchin  threw  off  his  jacket, 
plunged  into  the  swift  current,  and  safely  breasting  it 
was  soon  in  hot  pursuit  on  the  other  side  ;  and  after 
a  long  chase  and  hard  tussle  made  out  to  catch 
the  spirited  animal  and  bring  him  home  in  triumph. 
Always  passionately  fond  of  animals  and  prematurely 
expert  in  all  out-door  sports,  he  thus  early  began  to 
master  that  noblest  of  beasts,  the  horse. 

When  eight  years  old,  his  father  removed  with  his 
family  to  Boston,  and,  investing  his  means  in  shipping, 
engaged  for  a  time  in  trade  with  the  west  coast  of 
Africa.  The  son  was  apt  to  run  about  the  wharves 
with  his  father,  and  the  sight  of  the  ships  and  contact 
with  "Jack"  doubtless  awoke  the  taste  for  the  sea  that 
was  to  be  gratified  later  on. 

Returning  to  the  old  homestead  on  the  Contoocook, 
after  the  lapse  of  two  years  or  more,  the  old,  quiet, 
yet,  for  young  boyhood,  frolicsome  outdoor  life  was 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  235 

resumed,  and  the  lad  grew  apace  amid  the  rural  scenes 
and  ample  belongings  of  that  generous  home  ;  not  over- 
studious,  perhaps,  and  chafing,  as  boys  will,  at  the 
restraint  imposed  by  the  study  of  daily  lessons  and 
their  recital  to  his  mother. 

At  twelve  years  of  age,  he  was  sent  to  the  Hopkinton 
Academy,  and  afterwards  to  the  academy  at  Gilmanton. 
While  at  Gilmanton,  Gen.  Charles  H.  Peaslee,  then 
member  of  congress  from  the  Concord  congressional 
district,  offered  him  the  appointment  of  acting  midship 
man  to  fill  a  vacancy  at  the  Naval  Academy,  Annap 
olis,  Maryland,  which,  after  some  hesitation,  his  parents 
permitted  him  to  accept,  and  he  was  withdrawn  from 
Gilmanton  and  sent  to  Concord  to  prepare  for  entrance 
at  Annapolis,  under  a  private  tutor.  He  remained 
under  such  pupilage  until  the  age  of  fifteen,  when  the 
beginning  of  the  academic  year,  October,  1851,  saw 
him  installed  in  "  Middy's"  uniform  at  that  institution, 
and  the  business  of  life  for  him  had  begun  in  earnest. 

To  a  young  and  restless  lad,  used  to  being  afield  at 
all  times  and  hours  with  horse,  dog,  and  gun,  and 
fresh  from  a  country  home  where  the  "  pomp  and  cir 
cumstance  "  of  military  life  had  had  no  other  illustra 
tion  than  occasional  glimpses  of  the  old  "  training  and 
muster  days  "  so  dear  to  New  Hampshire  boys  forty 
years  ago,  the  change  to  the  restraint  and  discipline  ; 
the  inflexible  routine  and  stern  command  ;  the  bright 
uniforms  and  novel  ways  ;  the  sight  of  the  ships  and 
the  use  of  a  vocabulary  that  ever  smacks  of  the  sea  ; 
the  call  by  drum  and  trumpet  to  every  act  of  the  day, 
from  bed-rising,  prayers,  and  breakfast,  through  study, 
recitation,  drill,  and  recreation  hours,  to  tattoo  and 
taps,  when  every  student  is  expected  to  be  in  bed, — 
was  a  transformation  wonderful  indeed  ;  but  the  flow  of 
discipline  and  routine  is  so  regular  and  imperative  that 


236  SK«ETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

their  currents  are  imperceptibly  impressed  upon  the 
youthful  mind  and  soon  become  a  part  of  his  nature,  as 
it  were,  unawares.  So  we  may  conclude  that  our 
young  aspirant  for  naval  honors  proved  no  exception 
to  the  rule,  and  soon  settled  into  these  new  grooves 
of  life  as  quietly  as  his  ardent  temperament  would 
permit. 

The  discipline  at  the  Academy,  in  those  days,  was 
harsher  and  more  exacting,  and  the  officers  of  the  insti 
tution  of  a  sterner  and  more  experienced  sea-school, 
than  now ;  and  the  three  months'  practice  cruises 
across  the  Atlantic,  which  the  different  classes  made 
on  alternate  summers,  when  the  "young  gentlemen" 
were  trained  to  do  all  the  work  of  seamen,  both  alow 
and  aloft,  and  lived  on  the  old  navy  ration  of  salt  junk, 
pork  and  beans,  and  hard-tack,  with  no  extras,  were 
anything  but  a  joke.  The  Academy,  too,  was  in  a 
transition  state  from  the  system  in  vogue,  up  to  1850 
inclusive,  prior  to  which  period  the  midshipmen  went 
to  sea  immediately  after  appointment,  pretty  much  after 
the  fashion  of  Peter  Simple  and  Jack  Easy,  and  after 
a  lapse  of  five  years  came  to  the  school  for  a  year's 
cramming  and  coaching  before  graduating  as  passed 
midshipmen.  The  last  of  such  appointees  was  grad 
uated  in  1856,  and  the  sometime  hinted  contaminating 
influence  of  the  *'  oldsters  "  upon  the  "  youngsters  "  was 
a  thing  to  be  known  no  more  forever,  albeit  the  hint  of 
contamination  always  seemed,  to  the  writer,  question 
able,  as,  in  his  experience,  the  habit  and  propensity  of 
the  youngsters  for  mischief  appeared  to  require  neither 
promotion  nor  encouragement.  Indeed,  their  methods 
and  ingenuity  in  evading  rules  and  regulations  and 
defying  discipline  were  as  original  as  they  were  per 
severing,  and  could  the  third-story  room  of  the  build 
ing  occupied  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch  be  given 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  237 

tongue,  it  would  tell  a  tale  of  frolic  and  drollery  that 
would  only  find  parallel  in  the  inimitable  pages  of 
Marryatt. 

Convenient  apparatus  for  the  stewing  or  roasting  of 
oysters,  poaching  of  eggs,  or  the  mixing  of  refreshing 
drinks,  could  be  readily  stowed  away  from  the  inspect 
ing  officer,  or  a  roast  goose  or  turkey  be  smuggled  by 
a  trusty  darky  from  some  restaurant  outside  ;  and  it 
was  but  the  work  of  a  moment  after  taps  to  tack  a 
blanket  over  the  window,  light  the  gas,  and  bring  out 
a  dilapidated  pack  of  cards  for  a  game  of  California 
jack  or  draw-poker  ;  or  to  convert  the  prim  pine  table 
into  a  billiard-table,  with  marbles  for  balls,  with  which 
the  ownership  of  many  a  collar,  neckerchief,  shirt, 
and  other  articles  of  none  too  plentiful  wardrobes,  was 
decided  in  a  twinkling,  while  the  air  of  the  crowded 
room  grew  thick  and  stifling  from  the  smoke  of  the 
forbidden  tobacco. 

One  of  the  company  would  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for 
the  possible  advent  of  the  sometimes  rubber-shod  passed 
midshipman  doing  police  duty,  and,  if  necessary,  dan 
ger  signals  would  be  made  from  the  basement  story,  by 
tapping  on  the  steam-pipes,  which  signal  would  be  re 
peated  from  room  to  room,  and  from  floor  to  floor, 
generally  in  ample  time  for  the  young  bacchanalians  to 
disperse  in  safety.  If,  perchance,  the  revellers  got 
caught,  they  would  stand  up  at  the  next  evening's 
parade  and  hear  the  offense,  and  the  demerits  accorded, 
read  out  in  presence  of  the  battalion,  with  an  easy 
sang-froid  that  piqued  the  sea-worn  experience  of  the 
oldsters  while  they  marveled.  Let  no  one  judge  these 
lads  too  harshly,  for  the  day  came,  all  too  soon,  when 
they  were  to  stand  up  and  face  the  enemy,  and,  with 
equally  nonchalant  but  sterner  courage,  go  into  battle 
in  defense  of  the  flag  they  were  being  trained  to  defend, 


238  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

many  winning  undying  honor  and  fame,  some  meeting 
untimely  but  heroic  graves,  in  "  the  war  that  kept  the 
Union  whole." 

Our  midshipmite  soon  became  a  favorite  with  all,  from 
the  grufF  old  superintendent  down  to  the  littlest  new 
comer  at  the  school.  His  bright,  cheery*  and  genial 
disposition,  and  frank,  hearty  ways,  were  very  winning  ; 
and  if  in  his  studies  he  did  not  take  leading  rank,  nor 
become  enraptured  over  analytics,  calculus,  and  binomi 
als,  he  was  esteemed  a  spirited,  heartsome  lad  of  good 
stock  and  promise,  bred  to  honorable  purpose  and  aspi 
ration,  with  seemingly  marked  aptitude  for  the  noble 
profession,  which,  more  than  any  other,  calls  for  a  hero 
ism  that  never  hesitates,  a  courage  that  never  falters  ; 
for,  aside  from  its  special  work  of  upholding  and  de 
fending  the  flag,  and  all  it  symbolizes,  on  the  high  seas 
to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  globe,  "  they  that  go  down 
to  the  sea  in  ships"  come  closer  to  the  manifestations  of 
the  unspeakable  might  and  majesty  of  Almighty  Power 
than  any  other.  The  seaman,  with  but  a  plank  sepa 
rating  him  from  eternity,  never  knows  at  what  moment 
he  may  be  called  upon  to  put  forth  all  the  skill  and  re 
source,  the  unflinching  effort  and  sacrifice,  that  his  call 
ing  ever,  in  emergency,  unstintedly  requires. 

"  Where'er  the  surge  may  sweep,  the  tempest's  breath  prevail, 
He  searches  all  its  stormy  deep,  its  dangers  all  unveil.1' 

Of  medium  height,  slight  and  trim  of  figure,  clear 
complexion  and  piercing  gray  eyes  of  peculiar  brilliancy, 
softened  by  a  merry  twinkle  betokening  latent  mischief, 
voung  Perkins  was  a  youth  fair  and  interesting  to  look 
upon.  He  walked  with  quick,  elastic  step,  carried 
his  head  a  little  on  one  side,  and  had  a  habit,  when 
anything  struck  his  fancy  pleasantly,  of  shrugging  his 
shoulders  and  rubbing  his  hands  together  in  a  vigorous 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       239 

way,  that  seemed  to  declare  in  unmistakable  terms  that 
he  was  glad  all  over  ! 

During  one  of  the  wonted  summer  cruises  he  made 
himself  somewhat  famous  at  great-gun  practice,  the 
details  of  which  are  given  in  one  of  his  home  letters,  as 
follows  : 

'4  We  had  target  practice  one  day,  and  it  came  my 
turn  to  shoot.  There  was  quite  a  swell  on,  which  made 
it  very  difficult  to  get  any  kind  of  a  shot,  but  when  I 
fired  I  hit  the  target,  which  was  a  barrel  with  a  small 
flag  on  it,  set  up  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  distant. 
Such  a  thing  as  hitting  a  small  target  at  sea,  with  the 
ship  in  motion ,  and  a  swell  on ,  is  considered  almost  out  of 
the  question,  so  they  all  said  it  was  '  luck.'  But  another 
target  was  put  out,  and  I  fired  again  and  stove  it  all 
to  pieces.  Then  the  crew  all  cheered,  and  made  quite 
a  hero  of  me.  Still  some  said  it  must  be  luck,  and 
another  target  was  put  out  in  exactly  the  same  manner. 
This  one  I  did  not  quite  hit,  but  the  shot  fell  so  near 
that  all  gave  it  up  it  was  not  luck,  and  that  I  was  a  first- 
rate  shot  with  broadside  guns." 

After  such  demonstration,  it  is  not  strange  that  he 
was  looked  upon  as  having  a  very  correct  eye  for  dis 
tances,  and  was  ever  afterward  called  upon  to  fire 
whenever  experiments  were  wanted.  Naval  gunnery, 
be  it  remarked  in  passing,  is  quite  a  different  matter 
from  army  practice.  In  the  former,  with  its  platform 
never  at  rest,  it  is  like  shooting  a  bird  on  the  wing, 
when  distance  and  motion  must  be  accurately  gauged 
and  allowed  for;  in  the  latter,  from  its  gun  on  a 
fixed  platform,  it  is  but  a  question  of  measurement  from 
the  object,  by  means  of  instruments  if  need  be,  and  of 
good  pointing.  The  seaman  stands  immediately  in  rear 
of  the  gun,  with  the  eye  along  the  sight  directing  its 
train,  now  ritjht,  now  leit,  now  well,  and  with  taut  lock- 


240        SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

string  in  hand  in  readiness  to  pull  the  moment  the  object 
is  on,  and  on  the  alert  to  jump  clear  of  the  recoil.  The 
soldier  handles  his  piece  with  greater  deliberation,  sights 
it  leisurely  on  its  immovable  platform,  and,  if  mounted 
en  barbette^  retires  behind  a  traverse  before  firing. 

Graduating  in  June,  1856,  the  now  full-fledged  Mid 
shipman  Perkins  could  look  back  upon  the  five  years' 
probationary  experience  with  many  pleasant  recollec 
tions,  though  doubtless  thanking  his  stars  that  his 
pupilage  was  over. 

During  his  time  there  had  been  two  superintendents 
at  the  Academy.  The  first  was  Capt.  C.  K.  Stribling, 
a  fine  seaman  of  the  old  school,  of  rigid  Presbyterian 
stock,  stern,  grim,  and  precise,  with  curt  manners, 
sharp  and  incisive  voice  that  seemed  to  know  no  soften 
ing,  and  whose  methods  of  duty  and  conception  of 
discipline  smacked  of  the  "  true-blue  "  ideal  of  the 
Covenanters  of  old  in  their  enforcement  of  obedience 
and  conservation  of  morals.  The  second  was  Capt. 
L.  M.  Goldsborough,  a  man  of  stalwart  height  and  pro 
portions  and  a  presence  that  ennobled  command  ;  learned 
and  accomplished,  yet  grufF  and  overwhelming  in 
speech  and  brusque  and  impatient  in  manner,  but 
possessing,  withal,  a  kindly  nature,  and  a  keen  sense  of 
humor  that  took  in  a  joke  enjovably,  however  practical  ; 
and  a  sympathetic  discrimination  that  often  led  him  to 
condone  moral  offenses  at  which  some  of  the  straight- 
laced  professors  stood  aghast.  His  responses  at  church 
service  resounded  like  the  growl  of  a  bear  ;  and  when 
reprimanding  the  assembled  midshipmen,  drawn  up  in 
battalion,  for  some  grave  breach  of  discipline,  he  would 
stride  up  and  down  the  line  with  the  tread  of  an  elephant, 
and  expound  the  Articles  of  War  in  stentorian  tones  that 
equaled  the  roar  of  a  bull  !  But  if,  perchance,  in  the 
awesome  precincts  of  his  office,  he  afterwards  got  hold 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       241 

of  a  piece  of  doggerel  some  witty  midshipman  had 
written  descriptive  of  such  a  scene,  none  would  enjoy  it 
more  than  he  ! 

After  an  enjoyment  of  a  three  months'  leave  of  ab 
sence  at  home,  Midshipman  Perkins  was  ordered  to  join 
the  sloop-of-war  Cyane,  Captain  Robb.  That  ship  was 
one  of  the  home  squadron  ;  and  in  November,  1856, 
sailed  for  Aspinwall,  to  give  protection  to  our  citizens, 
mails,  and  freight,  in  the  transit  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  to  California,  back  and  forth.  At  that  period, 
safe  and  rapid  transit  in  that  region  of  riots  and  revolu 
tion  was  much  more  important  than  now, — the  Pacific 
Railroad  existing  only  in  the  brains  of  a  few  sagacious 
men, — and  the  maintenance  of  the  thoroughfare  across 
the  pestilential  isthmus  was  a  national  necessity.  For 
years  our  naval  force  on  either  side  had  had  frequent 
occasion  to  land  expeditions  to  protect  the  life  and 
property  of  our  citizens,  and  a  frightful  massacre  of 
passengers  had  but  lately  occurred  at  the  hands  of  a 
mongrel  mob  at  Panama.  The  situation  was  critical, 
and  for  a  time  it  looked  as  though  the  United  States 
would  be  obliged  to  seize  and  hold  that  part  of  Colom 
bian  territory.  But  time  wore  on  without  outbreak  on 
the  part  of  the  fiery  freemen  of  that  so-called  republic, 
the  continued  presence  of  ships,  both  at  Panama  and 
Aspinwall,  doubtless  convincing  them  of  the  folly  of 
further  attempts  to  molest  the  hated  Yankees. 

Meanwhile  the  notorious  Walker  had  been  making  a 
filibustering  raid  in  Central  America,  which  ended  in 
failure,  and  the  Cyane  went  over  to  Greytown  to  bring 
the  sick  and  wounded  of  his  deluded  followers  to  Aspin 
wall  for  passage  to  New  York.  Some  hundred  and 
twenty  officers  and  men  found  in  the  hands  of  the  Costa 
Ricans  were  taken  on  board,  most  of  them  in  a  deplor 
able  condition.  Some  died  before  weighing  anchor  for 
16 


242       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

Aspinwall,  and  as  midshipmen  have  no  definable  duties 
except  to  obey  orders,  whatever  they  may  be,  Midship 
man  Perkins  was  sent  in  a  boat  one  day  to  take  a  chap 
lain's  part  in  the  burial  of  one  of  the  victims.  "  When 
we  got  out  to  sea,"  he  wrote,  "  I  read  some  prayers 
over  him,  and  then  he  was  thrown  over  the  side,  the 
sailors  saying  '  God  bless  you  ! '  as  the  body  sunk." 
This  sad  duty  made  him  feel  solemn  and  reflective,  but 
more  than  likely  as  not  he  was  called  upon  immediately 
on  arrival  on  board,  as  "  master's  mate  of  the  spirit- 
room,"  to  attend  the  serving  out  of  grog  to  the  ship's 
company  !  Extremes  meet  on  board  a  man-of-war,  and 
the  times  for  moralizing  are  short  and  scant. 

So  time  sped,  Midshipman  Perkins  performing  his 
multifarious  duties  with  alacrity  and  approval,  and  hav 
ing  some  perilous  adventures  by  flood  and  field  in  pur 
suit  of  wild  game,  until  July,  1857,  when  the  monotony 
of  the  cruise  was  broken  by  a  trip  to  the  banks  of  New 
foundland  for  the  protection  of  our  fishing  interests,  and 
including  visits  at  Boston,  St.  John's,  and  Halifax. 

The  people  of  the  Provinces  were  very  hospitable, 
and  the  contrast  between  the  dusky  damsels  of  the 
isthmus  and  the  ruddy-cheeked  belles  of  St.  John's  and 
Halifax  was  brightening  in  the  extreme,  and  young 
Perkins,  ever  gallant  in  his  intercourse  with  the  sex 
and  a  good  dancer,  found  much  favor  with  the  Provin 
cial  beauties,  and  doubtless  made  up  for  past  depriva 
tions  in  the  alluring  contact  with  their  charms. 

Returning  southward  in  the  fall,  the  ship  cruised 
among  the  West  Indies,  visiting,  among  other  ports, 
Cape  Haytien,  the  old  capital  of  the  island  of  Hayti, 
to  inquire  into  the  imprisonment  of  an  American  mer 
chant  captain.  This  place  before  the  French  Revolu 
tion  had  been  a  city  of  great  magnificence  and  beauty — 
the  Paris  of  the  Isles, — and  the  old  French  nobility, 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      243 

possessing  enormous  landed  estates  and  large  numbers 
of  slaves,  lived  in  a  state  of  almost  fabled  grandeur  and 
luxury;  but  negro  rule,  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment  to  Port-au-Prince,  and  the  great  earthquake  of 
1842,  have  destroyed  all  but  a  semblance  of  its  former 
glory  and  importance. 

Among  other  sights  visited  by  the  officers  was  the 
old  home  of  Count  Cristoll,  a  castle  of  great  size  and 
strength,  built  on  one  of  the  highest  hills,  some  twelve 
miles  back  of  the  town.  It  was  told  of  the  old  Count 
that  he  used  every  year  to  bury  large  sums  of  money 
from  his  revenues,  and  then  shoot  the  slave  who  did 
the  work,  that  the  secret  of  the  spot  might  be  known 
only  to  himself. 

In  January,  1858,  Midshipman  Perkins  was  detached 
from  the  Cyauc,  and  he  bade  adieu  forever  to  her  dark, 
cramped-up,  tallow-candle-lighted  steerage,  baggy  ham 
mock,  and  hard  fare,  where  the  occasional  dessert  to  a 
salt  dinner  had  been  dried  apples,  mixed  with  bread 
and  flavored  with  whiskey  !  There  were  no  eleven- 
o'clock  breakfasts  for  midshipmen  in  those  days,  and 
canned  meats,  condensed  milk,  preserved  fruits,  and 
other  luxuries  now  common  on  shipboard,  were  almost 
unknown. 

A  few  brief  days  at  home,  and  orders  came  to  join  the 
storeship  Release,  which  vessel,  after  a  three  months' 
cruise  in  the  Mediterranean,  returned  to  New  York  to 
fill  up  with  stores  and  provisions  for  the  Paraguay  ex 
pedition.  That  expedition  had  for  its  object  the  chas 
tisement  of  the  dictator  Lopez,  for  certain  dastardly 
acts  committed  against  our  flag  on  the  River  Parana. 

Owing  to  the  paucity  of  officers,  so  many  being 
absent  on  other  foreign  service,  Midshipman  Perkins 
was  appointed  acting  sailing  master,  a  very  responsible 
position  for  so  young  an  officer,  which,  with  the  added 


244  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

comforts  of  a  stateroom  and  well-ordered  table  in  the 
ward-room,  was  almost  royal  in  its  contrast  with  the 
duty,  the  darksome  steerage,  and  hard  fare  on  board 
the  Cyane.  It  would  be  difficult  to  make  a  landsman 
take  in  the  scope  of  the  change  implied,  but  let  him 
in  imagination  start  across  the  continent  in  an  old- 
fashioned,  cramped-up  stage-coach,  full  of  passengers, 
with  such  coarse  fare  as  could  be  picked  up  from  day 
to  day,  and  return  in  a  Pullman  car  with  well-stocked 
larder  and  restaurant  attached,  and  he  will  get  a  glim 
mering  as  to  the  difference  between  steerage  and  ward 
room  life  on  board  a  man-of-war. 

The  Release  was  somewhat  of  a  tub,  and  what  with 
light  and  contrary  winds  and  calms  took  sixty-two  days 
to  reach  the  rendezvous,  Montevideo,  arriving  there  in 
January,  1858.  She  found  the  whole  fleet  at  anchor 
there,  and  officers  and  men  soon  forgot  the  weariness 
of  the  long  passage  in  the  receipt  of  letters  from  home, 
and  in  the  joyous  meetings  with  old  friends.  All 
admired  the  fine  climate,  and  as  that  part  of  South 
America  is  the  greatest  country  in  the  world  for  horses, 
the  young  sailing  master  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity 
offered  to  indulge  in  his  favorite  pastime  of  riding. 
He  also  showed  his  prowess  as  a  devotee  of  the  chase 
in  fine  sport  afforded  on  the  pampas  that  enabled  him 
to  run  down  and  shoot  a  South  American  tiger. 

Meanwhile  Commodere  Shubrick,  in  command  of  the 
expedition,  had  completed  his  preparations  for  ascend 
ing  the  Parana,  and  the  fleet  soon  moved  up  to  a  con 
venient  point,  the  Commodore  himself  continuing  on 
up  the  river  in  a  small  vessel  to  Corrientes  to  meet 
Lopez  and  convey  to  him  the  ultimatum  of  the  United 
States.  After  some  "backing  and  filling,"  as  an  old 
salt  would  characterize  diplomacy,  Lopez  concluded 
"  discretion  to  be  the  better  part  of  valor,"  and  making 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  245 

a  satisfactory  amende,  the  Paraguayan  war  came  to  a 
bloodless  end,  and  the  hopes  of  expectant  heroes,  with 
visions  of  promotion,  dissolved  like  summer  clouds. 

Young  Perkins  was  now,  August,  1858,  transferred 
to  the  frigate  Sabine  for  passage  home  to  his  examina 
tion  for  the  grade  of  passed  midshipman.  Passing  that 
ordeal  satisfactorily,  aided  by  handsome  commendatory 
letters  from  his  commanding  officers,  he  spent  three 
happy  months  at  homeland  then  received  orders  for 
duty  on  board  the  steamer  Sumter,  as  acting  master, 
the  destination  of  that  vessel  being  the  west  coast  of 
Africa,  where,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
Article  8  of  the  Webster- Ashburton  treaty  (1842),  the 
United  States  maintained  a  squadron,  carrying  not  less 
than  eighty  guns,  in  cooperation  with  the  British  gov 
ernment,  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade.  That 
article  continued  in  active  observance  nineteen  years, 
when  the  United  States,  having  a  little  question  of 
slavery  to  settle  at  home,  gave  the  stipulated  prelimi 
nary  notice  and  recalled  the  ships. 

The  Sumter  arrived  on  the  coast  in  October,  1859, 
making  her  first  anchorage  in  the  lovely  harbor  on  the 
west  side  of  Prince's  Island.  That  island,  in  about 
i°  30'  north  latitude,  covered  with  all  the  luxuriance  of 
tropical  growth  and  verdure,  and  broken  into  every 
conceivable  shape  of  pinnacle,  castellated  rock  and 
chasm,  and  frowning  precipice,  streaked  with  silvery 
threads  of  leaping  streams  in  their  dash  to  the  sea,  is 
indeed  one  of  the  most  enchanting  spots  the  eye  ever 
rested  on.  The  chief  inhabitant  of  the  lovely  isle  was 
Madame  Ferrara,  a  woman  of  French  extraction,  who 
lived  alone  in  a  big,  rambling  house,  surrounded  by 
slaves,  who  cultivated  her  plantations  and  prepared  the 
cocoa,  palm  oil,  yams,  and  cocoanuts  for  the  trade  that 
sought  her  doors. 


246  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

Filling  up  with  water,  the  Suniter  proceeded  to  the  island 
of  Fernando  Po,  a  Spanish  possession  close  in  to  the 
mainland,  in  the  Bight  of  Biafra,  where  she  met  several 
English  and  French  men-of-war,  and  received  orders 
for  her  future  movements. 

The  first  thing  to  do,  in  accordance  with  the  custom 
of  the  squadron,  was  the  enlisting  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
negroes,  known  as  Kroomen,  whose  home  is  in  the  Kroo 
country  in  upper  Guinea,  just  south  of  Liberia.  They 
did  all  the  heavy  boat  work  of  the  ship,  thus  lightening 
the  work  of  the  crew,  and  saving  them  as  much  as  pos 
sible  from  exposure  to  the  effects  of  the  deadly  climate. 
Great,  strapping,  muscular  fellows,  many  of  them  with 
forms  that  an  Apollo  might  envy,  they  were  trained 
from  infancy  to  be  as  much  at  home  in  the  water  as  upon 
the  land,  and  could  swim  a  dozen  leagues  at  sea  or  pull 
at  the  oar  all  day  long  without  seeming  fatigue.  Won 
derfully  expert  in  their  handling  of  boats,  especially 
in  the  heavy  surf  that  rolls  in  upon  the  coast  with 
ceaseless  volume  and  resistless  power,  its  perilous  line 
almost  unbroken  by  a  good  harbor,  from  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  to  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  their  services  in 
communicating  with  the  shore  were  simply  invaluable. 
The  head  Kroomen  exercised  despotic  power  over  their 
respective  gangs,  and  the  men  were  given  fanciful 
names,  and  so  entered  on  the  purser's  books.  Bottle-o- 
Beer,  Jack  Fry  ing-Pan,  Tom  Bobstay,  Upside  Down, 
and  the  like,  were  favorite  names  ;  and  our  fun-loving 
young  sailing  master  hints,  in  his  letters  of  the  time, 
that  the  archives  of  the  fourth  auditor's  office  at  Wash 
ington  may  possibly  embalm  the  names  of  certain 
Annapolis  belles  that  had  been  borne  by  some  of  these 
sable  folk  ! 

The   cruising  ground  embraced  the  coasts  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Guinea,  and  the  coast  of  Biafra,  with  occa- 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      247 

sional  visits  of  recruit  and  recreation  to  Cape  Town  and 
St.  Helena.  The  work  was  arduous,  monotonous,  and 
exhausting,  especially  during  the  rainy  season,  where 
the  decks  were  continually  deluged  with  water,  and  dry 
clothing  was  the  exception,  not  the  rule.  The  weather 
was  always  hot,  often  damp  and  sultry,  and  the  atmos 
phere  on  shore  so  pestilential  that  no  one  was  permitted 
to  remain  there  after  sundown.  But  that  rule  was  no 
deprivation,  as  the  dangers  of  the  passage  through  the 
relentless  breakers,  alive  with  sharks,  were  so  great  that 
few  cared  to  visit  the  shore  except  when  absolutely 
necessarv.  The  vessels  cruised  mostly  in  sight  of  the 
coast  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  merchantmen,  all 
more  or  less  under  suspicion  as  slavers,  watching  their 
chances  to  get  off  with  a  cargo.  On  the  one  hand  was 
the  rounded  horizon  dipping  into  the  broad  Atlantic  ; 
on  the  other,  the  angry  line  of  rollers  with  their  thunder 
ous  roar,  backed  by  white  beach  and  dense  forest,  with 
occasional  glimpses  of  blue  hills  in  the  distant  interior. 
This  and  nothing  more,  from  day  to  day,  save  when  a 
small  village  of  thatched  huts  came  into  view,  adding  a 
scant  feature  to  the  landscape  ;  or  a  solitary  canoe  out 
side  the  line  of  breakers  ;  or  strange  sail  to  seaward  ; 
or  school  of  porpoises,  leaping  and  blowing,  windward 
bound  ;  or  hungry  shark  prowling  round  the  ship, — lent 
momentary  interest  to  the  watery  solitude. 

It  was  a  privilege  to  fall  in  with  another  cruiser, 
whether  of  our  own  or  of  the  English  flag.  On  such 
occasions,  down  would  go  the  boats  for  the  exchange  of 
visits,  the  comparison  of  notes,  and  sometimes  the  dis 
cussion  of  a  dinner.  The  English  officers  had  numerous 
captures  and  handsome  sums  of  prize  money  to  tell  of, 
while  our  people,  as  a  rule,  could  only  talk  of  hopes 
and  possibilities.  Our  laws  regulating  captures  were  as 
inflexible  as  the  Westminster  Catechism,  and  a  captain 


248  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

could  not  detain  a  vessel  without  great  risk  of  civil 
damages,  unless  slaves  were  actually  on  board.  Sus 
pected  ships  might  have  all  the  fittings  and  infamous 
equipage  for  the  slave  traffic  on  board,  but  if  their 
masters  produced  correct  papers  the  vessels  could  not 
be  touched  ;  and  our  officers  not  infrequently  had  the 
mortification  of  learning  that  ships  they  had  overhauled 
and  believed  to  be  slavers,  but  could  not  seize  under 
their  instructions,  got  off  the  coast  eventually  with  large 
cargoes  of  ebon  humanity  on  board. 

Not  so  with  the  English  commanders,  whose  instruc 
tions  enabled  them  to  take  and  send  to  their  prize  courts 
all  vessels,  except  those  under  the  American  flag,  under 
the  slightest  showing  of  nefarious  character  ;  and  their 
hauls  of  prize  money  were  rich  and  frequent. 

The  intercourse  with  the  English  officers,  notes  Master 
Perkins,  at  first  cordial  and  agreeable,  became,  after  a 
few  months,  cold  and  indifferent.  Her  majesty's  officers 
no  longer  cared  to  show  politeness  or  friendly  feeling. 
The  first  premonitions  of  the  rebellion  in  the  John 
Brown  raid,  the  break-up  of  the  Democracv  at  Charles 
ton,  and  the  violence  of  the  Southern  press  concerning 
the  probable  results  of  the  pending  presidential  election, 
convincing  them  that  the  long-predicted  and  wished-for 
day — the  breaking  up  of  the  Republic — was  nigh  at 
hand,  and  their  real  feelings  as  Englishmen  cropped  out 
but  too  plainly  ;  but  of  this,  more  anon. 

Despite  the  perils  of  the  surf,  the  dangers  of  the  in 
hospitable  climate,  and  the  unfriendly  character  of  some 
of  the  savage  tribes  to  be  met  with,  the  adventurous 
spirit  and  dauntless  courage  of  Master  Perkins  was  not 
to  be  balked.  Volunteering  for  every  duty,  no  matter 
how  dangerous,  hardly  a  boat  ever  left  the  ship  that 
he  was  not  in.  The  life  of  the  mess  through  his  unfail 
ing  good  humor  and  exuberant  flow  of  spirits,  he  was 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  249 

the  soul  of  every  expedition,  whether  of  service  or 
pleasure ;  and  before  the  cruise  of  some  twenty-two 
months  was  up,  he  came  to  know  almost  every  promi 
nent  tribe,  chief,  and  king  on  the  coast.  Now  dining 
with  a  king  off  the  strangest  viands ;  now  holding 
44  palaver"  with  another;  now  spending  a  day  wnth  the 
chief  and  his  numerous  wives  ;  now  visiting  a  French 
barracoon,  where,  under  a  fiction  of  law,  the  victims 
were  collected  to  be  shipped  as  unwilling  apprentices, 
not  slaves,  to  be  returned  to  their  native  wilds,  if  they 
lived  long  enough;  now  ascending  a  river  dangerous 
for  boats,  where,  if  the  boat  had  capsized,  himself  and 
crew  would  but  have  served  a  morning's  meal  to  the 
hungry  sharks  held  as  fetich  by  the  natives  along  the 
stream,  who  yearly  sacrifice  young  girls  reared  for  the 
purpose  to  their  propitiation  ;  now  scouring  the  bush  in 
pursuit  of  the  gorilla  or  shooting  hippopotami  by  the 
half  dozen,  and  other  adventures  and  exploits  wherein 
duty,  excitement,  and  gratified  curiosity  were  intermin 
gled  with  danger  and  hair-breadth  escape  that  few  would 
care  to  tempt. 

On  one  occasion,  he  volunteered  to  go  with  a  boat's 
crew  and  find  the  mouth  of  the  Settee  river,  not  dreaming 
of  landing  through  the  unusually  heavy  surf.  "  But," 
said  he,  "  in  pulling  along  about  half  a  mile  from  shore, 
a  roller  struck  the  boat  and  capsized  it.  Of  course  we 
were  obliged  to  swim  for  shore  ;  in  fact,  we  had  little  to 
do  with  it,  for  the  moment  the  boat  was  upset  we  were 
driven  into  the  surf,  and.  not  one  of  us  thought  we  should 
ever  reach  the  shore  ;  for  if  w<e  were  not  lost  in  the  surf, 
the  sharks  would  eat  us  up. 

"  As  I  rose  on  the  top  of  a  wave  I  could  look  ahead 
and  see  the  stretch  of  wild,  tossing  surf,  which  it  seemed 
impossible  for  any  one  to  live  in  ;  but  when  I  looked 
back  I  could  count  all  my  men  striking  out,  which  was 


250  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

very  encouraging,  as  I  feared  one  or  two  might  be  under 
the  boat.  I  thought  for  a  moment  of  you  all  at  home, 
and  wondered  if  mother  would  not  feel  a  little  frightened 
if  she  knew  how  strong  the  chances  were  against  her 
son's  receiving  any  more  letters  from  home.  Just  then 
a  roller  struck  me  and  carried  me  down  so  deep  I  was 
caught  by  the  undertow  and  carried  toward  the  sea  in 
stead  of  the  land.  When  I  came  to  the  surface  I  tried 
to  look  out  for  the  next  roller,  but  it  was  no  use  ;  the 
first  one  half  drowned  me,  and  the  next  kept  me  down 
so  long  that  when  I  rose  I  wras  in  the  wildest  of  surf, 
which  tumbled  and  rolled  me  about  in  a  way  I  did  not 
like  at  all.  My  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth  were  full  of 
sand,  and,  in  fact,  I  thought  my  time  had  come.  Just 
then  I  looked  on  shore,  and  saw  two  of  my  men  drag 
ging  some  one  from  the  water,  and  at  that  sight  I  struck 
out  with  one  despairing  kick,  and  managed  to  get  near 
enough  for  two  of  the  men  to  reach  me  ;  but  that  was 
all  I  knew  of  the  affair  until  a  little  after  sunset,  when 
I  became  conscious  of  the  fact  that  I  was  being  well 
shaken,  and  I  heard  one  of  the  men  say,  '  Cheer  up,  Mr. 
Perkins  !  Your  boat  and  all  the  men  are  on  shore.' 

"  This  was  such  good  news  that  I  did  not  much  mind 
the  uncomfortable  position  in  which  I  found  myself.  I 
was  covered  with  sand  and  stretched  across  a  log  about 
two  feet  high,  my  head  on  one  side  and  my  feet  on  the 
other.  The  men  had  worked  a  long  while  to  bring  me 
to.  Three  of  the  men  were  half  drowned  and  one  in 
jured.  We  managed  to  get  the  boat  in  the  river,  but 
suffered  awfully  from  thirst.  The  next  morning  we  lost 
our  way,  and,  after  pulling  around  till  mid-afternoon, 
we  stumbled  on  some  natives  fishing.  We  followed 
them  home,  but  found  them  such  a  miserable,  bad-look 
ing  lot  of  negroes  that  we  expected  trouble.  Knowing 
that  the  native  villages  in  the  daytime  are  left  in  charge 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  251 

of  the  old  men  and  women,  and  not  knowing  what 
might  happen  when  the  men  came  back,  we  killed  some 
chickens,  and,  with  some  sweet  potatoes,  made  quite  a 
meal.  The  strongest  of  us,  myself  and  three  others, 
got  ready  for  a  fight,  while  the  rest  manned  the  boat 
ready  for  our  retreat. 

"  Shortly  after  this  the  chief  came  back,  and  about  a 
hundred  men  with  him.  I  told  the  chief  I  had  come  to 
pay  him  a  visit,  and  we  had  a  great  palaver  ;  but  he 
would  not  give  us  anything  to  eat,  and  we  made  up  our 
minds  that  it  was  a  dangerous  neighborhood  ;  so  we 
moved  down  on  a  sand-spit  in  sight  of  the  ship,  and 
there  we  stayed  three  days  and  nights.  We  built  a  tent 
and  fortification,  traded  off  most  of  our  clothes  for  some 
thing  to  eat,  and  slept  unpleasantly  near  several  hundred 
yelling  savages.  All  this  while  the  ship  could  render 
no  assistance  ;  but  on  the  third  day  the  Kroomen  came 
on  shore  with  some  oars,  and,  after  trying  all  one  day, 
we  managed,  just  at  night,  to  get  through  the  surf  and 
back  to  the  ship.  It  was  a  happy  time  for  us,  and  I  may 
say  for  all  on  board,  as  they  had  been  very  anxious 
about  us.  Not  far  north  of  this,  if  you  happen  to  get 
cast  ashore,  they  kill  and  eat  you  at  once,  for  cannibal 
ism  is  by  no  means  extinct  among  the  negroes." 

The  sequel  of  this  perilous  experience  was  that  all  of 
them  were  stricken  down  with  the  dread  African  fever, 
which,  if  it  does  not  at  all  times  kill,  but  too  often  shat 
ters  the  constitution  beyond  remedy  ;  and  the  fact  that 
five  officers,  including  one  commanding  officer,  and  a 
proportionate  number  of  men,  had  been  invalided  home, 
and  another  commanding  officer  had  died,  all  due  to 
climatic  causes,  attests  the  general  unhealthfulness  of 
the  coast.  Other  interesting  incidents  and  narrow 
escapes,  in  which  Master  Perkins  had  part,  might  be 
told,  did  not  lack  of  space  forbid  ;  but  enough  has  been 


252        SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

shown  to  impress  the  fact  that  African  cruising,  even  in 
a  well-found  man-of-war,  is  not  altogether  the  work  and 
pleasure  of  a  holiday  ;  yet,  in  looking  over  young  Per 
kins's  letters,  we  cannot  forbear  this  description  of  the 
expertness  of  the  Kroomen  in  landing  through  the  surf: 

"When  the  boat  shoves  off  from  the  ship,  the  Kroo 
men,  entirely  naked  with  the  exception  of  breech-clout, 
strike  up  a  song,  and  pulling  grandly  to  its  rhythmic 
time,  soon  reach  the  edge  of  the  surf,  and  lie  on  their 
oars.  All  eyes  are  now  cast  seaward,  looking  for  a  big 
roller,  on  the  top  of  which  we  shall  be  carried  on  shore, 
and  there  is  a  general  feeling  of  excitement.  In  a  short 
time,  the  looked-for  roller  comes  ;  the  Kroomen  spring 
to  their  oars  with  a  shout,  the  natives  on  shore  yell  with 
all  their  might,  the  boat  shoots  forward  on  top  of  the 
wave  at  incredible  speed,  the  surf  thunders  like  the  roar 
of  a  battery,  and  altogether  it  seems  as  if  the  world  had 
come  to  an  end,  and  all  those  fellows  in  the  infernal 
regions  were  let  loose. 

"  Now  we  must  trust  to  luck  whollv  ;  there  is  no  re 
treat  and  no  help,  for  the  boat  is  beyond  the  power  of 
any  human  management,  and  go  on  shore  you  must, 
either  in  the  boat  or  under  it.  The  moment  the  boat 
strikes  the  beach,  the  Kroomen  jump  overboard,  and 
you  spring  on  the  back  of  one  of  them,  and  he  runs  with 
you  up  on  the  beach  out  of  the  way  of  the  next  roller, 
which  immediately  follows,  breaking  over  the  boat,  often 
upsetting  it,  and  always  wetting  everything  inside.  If 
you  have  escaped  without  a  good  soaking  you  may  con 
sider  yourself  a  lucky  fellow." 

In  the  midst  of  this  work  came  the  startling  news  of 
the  portentous  events  at  home.  The  infrequent  mails 
began  to  bring  the  angry  mutterings,  the  fateful  tidings, 
that  preluded  the  Rebellion.  Every  fresh  arrival  but 
added  to  the  excitement  and  increased  the  bewilderment 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  253 

that  had  so  unexpectedly  come  upon  the  squadron  ;  for, 
far  removed  from  the  scene,  and  not  daily  witnesses 
of  the  overt  acts  of  the  maddened  South,  they  mostly 
believed  that  the  threatened  conflict  would  be  tided  over, 
and  the  government  be  enabled  to  continue  on  in  its  wont 
ed  peaceful  course.  Now  a  wall,  as  of  fire,  rose  up 
between  the  officers ;  every  mess  in  every  ship  was 
divided  against  itself;  brothers-in-arms  of  yesterday 
were  enemies  of  to-day  ;  and  no  one  spoke  of  the  out 
look  at  home  except  in  bated  breath  and  measured 
speech,  from  fear  that  the  bitter  cup  would  overflow  then 
and  there,  and  water  turn  to  blood.  Many  Southern 
officers  sent  in  their  resignations  at  once,  and  all,  both 
from  North  and  South,  were  anxious  to  get  home  to  do 
their  part  on  one  side  or  the  other. 

"For  some  time  past,"  wrote  Master  Perkins,  "the 
foreigners  here  have  shown  us  but  little  respect,  and 
seem  to  regard  us  as  a  broken  power ;  and  this  has 
been  very  provoking,  for  in  my  opinion  it  will  be  a 
long  time  before  any  power  can  afford  to  despise  the 
United  States/'  And  he  notes  the  fact  that  no  more 
money  could  be  had, — that  the  credit  of  the  government 
was  gone  !  Ah  !  how  happy  the  day  to  loyal  but  wearied 
hearts  on  that  inhospitable  shore,  when  the  news  came 
of  the  President's  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  men, 
giving  assurance  that  we  still  had  a  government,  and 
meant  to  preserve  it  through  the  valor,  the  blood,  the 
treasure  of  the  nation,  if  need  be  ! 

After  unaccountable  and  vexatious  delay,  the  Sumter 
received  orders,  July,  1861,  to  proceed  to  New  York; 
meanwhile  she  had  captured  the  slave  brig  Falmouth^ 
a  welcome  finale  to  the  cruise,  and  what  with  the  officers 
transferred  to  her  and  the  resignations  that  had  taken 
place,  Mr.  Perkins  now  became  executive  officer,  a  fine 
position  at  that  day  for  one  of  his  years. 


254  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

Making  the  homeward  run  in  thirty-six  days,  the 
officers  and  men  dispersed  to  their  homes  for  a  brief 
respite  before  entering  upon  the  stern  duties  that  await 
ed  them,  and  Mr.  Perkins  had  the  satisfaction  of  re 
ceiving  his  commission  as  master. 

Recruiting  his  shattered  health  for  a  short  time  at  his 
welcoming  home,  he  was  ordered  as  executive  officer  of 
the  Cayuga,  one  of  the  so-called  ninety-day  gunboats, 
carrying  a  battery  of  one  eleven-inch  Dahlgren  gun,  a 
twenty-pounder  Parrot  rifle,  and  two  twenty-four  pounder 
howitzers,  and  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Commanding 
N.  B.  Harrison,  a  loyal  Virginian,  who  had  wavered 
never  a  moment  as  to  his  duty  when  his  state  threw 
down  the  gauntlet  of  rebellion. 

The  exigencies  of  the  war  had  soon  exhausted  the  lists 
of  regular  officers  and  the  few  thousand  seamen  that  had 
been  trained  in  the  service,  and  large  drafts  of  officers 
and  men  were  made  upon  the  merchant  marine  as  well 
as  big  hauls  of  green  landsmen  who  had  never  dreamt 
of  salt  water;  and  First  Lieutenant  Perkins,  as  the  only 
regular  officer  on  board  except  the  captain,  soon  found 
himself  an  exceeding  busy  man  in  organizing,  disci 
plining,  drilling,  and  shaping  into  place  and  routine, 
some  ninety  officers  and  men,  all  equally  new  to  man- 
of-war-life  and  methods,  and  requiring  the  necrssary 
time  and  instruction  to  fit  them  for  their  new  duties.  A 
fair  soldier  may  be  made  in  three  months — a  good  sea 
man  not  in  three  years. 

The  vessel  was  ordered  to  join  Farragut's  fleet  in  the 
Gulf,  but,  with  the  usual  delays  incident  to  new  ships, 
did  not  get  off  from  New  York  until  the  first  week  in 
March,  arriving  at  Ship  Island  March  31,  by  way  of  Key 
West,  and  having  made  a  prize  on  the  way.  As  the  young 
executive  had  been  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy  on  the  eve 
of  departure  from  New  York  his  visions  of  prize  money 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  255 

were  doubtless  proportionately  enhanced  by  the  cap 
ture  ! 

The  next  day  she  sailed  for  the  mouth  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  where,  and  at  the  head  of  the  passes,  the  rest  of 
the  fleet  was  assembled,  and  Flag  Officer  Farragut 
busily  engaged  in  completing  the  preparations  for  the 
attack  on  New  Orleans. 

The  fleet  consisted  of  four  heavy  sloops-of-war  of  the 
Hartford  class  ;  three  corvettes  of  the  Iroquois  class  ; 
nine  gunboats  of  the  Cayuga  class,  and  the  large  side- 
wheel  steamer  Mississippi,  carrying  in  the  aggregate 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  guns,  principally  of  nine-inch 
and  eleven-inch  calibre  ;  but  as  the  large  ships  carried 
their  batteries  mostly  in  broadside,  the  actual  number 
that  could  be  brought  to  bear,  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions,  on  every  given  point,  would  be  cut  down  to 
the  neighborhood  of  ninety  guns. 

Supporting  this  force  as  auxiliary  to  it,  for  the  bom 
bardment  of  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  was  Porter's 
mortar  fleet  of  twenty  schooners,  each  mounting  a  thir- 
teen-inch  mortar,  and  a  flotilla  of  five  side-wheel 
steamers,  and  the  gunboat  Owasco,  carrying,  in  all, 
thirty  guns. 

The  forts  in  question,  forming  the  principal  defenses 
of  New  Orleans,  were  heavy  casemated  works,  with 
traverses  on  top  for  barbette  guns,  some  ninety  miles 
below  the  city  at  a  point  where  the  river  makes  a  sharp 
bend  to  the  southeast.  Fort  St.  Philip,  on  the  left  bank, 
mounted  forty-two  guns,  and  Fort  Jackson,  including 
its  water  battery,  had  sixty-seven  guns  in  position,  all  of 
calibre  from  the  long  twenty-four  pounder  to  the  heavy 
ten-inch  Columbiad,  and  including  several  six-inch  and 
seven-inch  rifles. 

Stretching  across  the  river  from  bank  to  bank  to  bar 
the  channel,  nearly  opposite  Fort  Jackson  and  exposed 


256  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

to  the  perpendicular  fire  of  St.  Philip,  were  heavy  ship's 
chains,  supported  and  buoyed  by  hulks,  rafts,  and  logs, 
and  half  a  dozen  large  schooners.  The  rebels  had  also 
established  some  works  on  the  banks  of  the  river  about 
four  miles  from  town,  known  as  the  McGehee  and  Chal- 
mette  batteries,  the  latter  being  located  at  the  point  ever 
memorable  in  American  history  as  the  scene  of  General 
Jackson's  overwhelming  defeat  of  the  British  in  1815. 

Their  reliance  afloat  was  in  the  Louisiana,  an  iron 
clad,  carrying  nine  rifles  and  seven  smooth  bores  of 
heavy  calibre ;  the  ram  Manassas,  one  gun  ;  the 
McRae,  seven  guns ;  the  Moore,  and  Quit-man  ^  with 
two  guns  each ;  six  river  steamers,  with  their  stems 
shod  with  iron  to  act  as  rams,  and  several  iron-protected 
tugs. 

Assembling  the  fleet  at  the  head  of  the  passes,  after 
much  difficulty  in  getting  the  heavy  ships  over  the  bar, 
Farragut  ordered  the  ships  to  strip  like  athletes  for 
battle.  Down  came  mast  and  spar  till  nothing  was  left 
standing  but  lower  masts, — and  even  those  were  taken 
out  of  some  of  the  gunboats, — and  soon  everything  best 
out  of  reach  of  shot  was  landed,  leaving  clear  decks, 
and  no  top  hamper  to  be  cut  away  by  the  enemy's  pro 
jectiles  and  come  tumbling  down  about  the  heads  of 
guns'  crews. 

About  this  time  the  English  and  French  men-of-war 
that  had  lain  before  New  Orleans,  giving  aid  and  com 
fort  to  the  enemy  and  making  merry  in  singing  rebel 
songs  on  board,  especially  on  board  the  English  vessels, 
left  the  river,  their  officers  declaring  it  an  impossibility 
for  the  fleet  to  pass  the  forts  and  obstructions. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the 
cruisers  of  John  Bull  prowled  along  the  coast  during 
the  entire  war,  with  sometimes  permission  to  enter  the 
blockaded  ports,  conveying  information  and  lending 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      257 

encouragement  to  the  enemy,  and  rejoicing  at  every 
disaster  that  befell  the  Union  arms,  which,  together  with 
the  tacit  connivance  ot'the  British  government  in  letting 
out  the  Alabama,  and  other  hostile  acts,  ought  to  be 
treasured  against  Great  Britain  so  long  as  the  Republic 
endures. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  April,  Farragut  moved  up  to  a 
point  just  below  the  forts,  and  on  the  eighteenth,  having 
established  the  vessels  of  the  mortar  fleet  at  distances 
ranging  from  twenty-nine  hundred  and  fifty  yards  to 
four  thousand  yards,  from  Jackson,  and  partially  hidden 
by  trees  on  one  side  the  river,  and  disguised  with 
bushes  on  the  other,  opened  the  bombardment,  which 
was  kept  up  with  little  interruption  for  six  days  and 
nights  ;  the  corvettes  and  gunboats  taking  part  by  turns 
in  running  up,  delivering  their  fire,  and  dropping  down 
with  the  current  out  of  range  again.  The  forts  replied 
vigorously,  and  every  night  the  enemy  sent  clown  fire- 
rafts,  but  to  little  purpose. 

Meanwhile,  under  cover  of  the  night  and  the  fire  of 
the  fleet,  Fleet  Captain  Bell,  and  Lieutenants-Com 
manding  Crosby  and  Caldwell  of  the  gunboats  Pinola 
and  Itasca,  had  succeeded  in  forcing  a  channel  through 
the  obstructions,  a  piece  of  duty  that  had  required  the 
most  robust  and  dauntless  courage,  and  in  which  Cald 
well — a  son  of  Massachusetts — shone  preeminent  by  the 
coolness  of  his  methods  and  thoroughness  of  his  work. 
And  now,  on  the  night  of  the  twenty-third,  after  a  lat>t 
examination  by  Caldwell  in  a  twelve-oared  boat,  all  was 
pronounced  clear,  and  the  fleet  was  to  weigh  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning. 

The   fleet   was    formed    in    three    divisions,   the    first 

comprising  the  Hartford,  flagship,   the  Brooklyn,   and 

Richmond',  the  second  composed   of  eight  vessels  with 

the    divisional    flag  of   Captain    Bailey    on    board    the 

17 


258       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

Cayuga;  and  the  third  of  six  vessels,  with  Fleet  Cap 
tain  Bell's  flag  flying  from  the  Sciota;  but  was  ordered 
to  pass  through  the  obstructions  in  one  column  or  single 
line  ahead,  the  Cayuga  leading.  Farragut  had  intended 
to  lead  himself,  but  at  Bailey's  urgent  request  yielded 
that  honor  to  him. 

The  letters  of  Lieutenant  Perkins,  ever  glowing  with 
ardor  for  the  good  cause,  were,  at  this  time,  full  of 
patriotic  fervor  and  aspiration,  and  when  he  said,  "I 
hope  the  Cayuga  will  go  down  before  she  ever  gives  up, 
and  'I  guess'  she  will,"  he  certainly  meant  it!  And 
the  supreme  moment  had  now  come  for  him  to  inform 
this  hope  by  valorous  deeds,  and  all  unfalteringly  did 
he  walk  in  the  blazing  light  of  heroism  that  none  but 
the  brave  may  dare  to  tread. 

The  signal  to  weigh  was  promptly  made  at  two 
o'clock  a.  m.,  but  work  at  night  is  always  behind,  and 
it  was  half-past  three  o'clock  before  the  little  Cayuga, 
leading  the  line,  pressed  gallantly  through  the  obstruc 
tions  at  full  speed,  eager  for  the  fray,  closely  followed 
by  the  heavy  Pensacola,  and  ship  after  ship  in  the  order 
assigned  ;  but  lack  of  space  forbids  a  general  descrip 
tion  of  the  battle,  and  we  propose  to  do  hardly  more  than 
to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  Cayuga. 

Lieutenant-Commanding  Harrison  had  paid  his  ex 
ecutive  the  high  compliment  of  allowing  him  to  pilot 
the  vessel,  and  Perkins  took  position  in  the  eyes  of  her, 
on  the  top-gallant  forecastle,  while  Lieutenant-Com 
manding  Harrison  and  Captain  Bailey  stood  aft,  near 
the  wheel,  and  all  the  men,  except  the  helmsmen,  were 
made  to  lie  flat  on  the  deck  until  the  time  came  for  them 
to  serve  the  battery.  Prone  on  the  deck  at  Perkins's 
feet,  and  with  his  head  close  down  over  the  bow,  was 
the  captain  of  the  forecastle,  to  watch  the  channel  and 
give  timely  warning  of  anything  barring  the  way  that 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       259 

might  escape  the  wider-ranging  eye  of  the  intrepid  young 
pilot;  and  as  the  Cayuga  pressed  on,  receiving  the 
first  shock  of  the  outburst  from  the  forts,  what  finer 
subject  for  the  painter  than  that  lithe  young  figure  stand 
ing  up  in  bold  and  unflinching  relief,  at  the  extreme  bow 
of  the  ship,  peering  ahead  in  the  morning  starlight  to 
pilot  her  safely  on  her  way,  amid  the  blinding  flame  and 
screaming  bolts,  the  hurtle  of  shot  and  crash  of  shell, 
the  explosion  and  deafening  roar  of  a  hundred  shotted 
guns,  as  the  vessel  steamed  into  the  jaws  of  death,  lead 
ing  the  fleet  into  one  of  the  most  momentous  and 
memorable  conflicts  in  naval  annals.  Nor  should  cool 
and  phlegmatic  Harrison  nor  grand  old  Bailey  be  over 
looked,  as  the  constant  flashes  of  the  thick  exploding 
shells  revealed  them  standing  calm  and  grim  at  their 
posts,  in  readiness  to  direct  the  movements  of  vessel  and 
column,  and  engage  the  foe,  ashore  and  afloat;  nor  the 
impatient  officers  and  crew,  who  eagerly  waited  the  order 
to  spring  to  their  guns  and  make  reply  to  the  withering 
fire  pouring  in  upon  them  as  yet  unavenged. 

"  Noticing,"  said  Perkins,  "  that  the  enemy's  guns 
were  all  aimed  for  mid-stream,  I  steered  right  close 
under  the  walls  of  St.  Philip,  and  although  our  masts 
and  rigging  were  badly  shot  through,  the  hull  was 
hardly  damaged.  After  passing  the  last  battery,  I 
looked  back  for  some  of  our  vessels,  and  my  heart 
jumped  into  my  mouth  when  I  found  I  could  not  see  a 
single  one.  I  thought  they  must  all  have  been  sunk  by 
the  forts.  Looking  ahead,  I  saw  eleven  of  the  enemy's 
gunboats  coming  down  upon  us,  and  I  supposed  we 
were  gone.  Three  made  a  dash  to  board  us,  but  a 
charge  from  our  eleven-inch  settled  one,  the  Governor 
Moore.  The  ram  Manassas  just  missed  us  astern,  and 
we  soon  disposed  of  the  other.  Just  then  some  of  our 
gunboats  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  Cayuga,  and  all 


260       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

sorts  of  things  happened  ;  it  was  the  wildest  excite 
ment  all  round.  The  Varuna  fired  a  broadside  into  us 
instead  of  the  enemy.  Another  attacked  one  of  our 
prizes  ;  three  had  struck  to  us  before  any  of  our  ships 
came  up,  but  when  they  did  come  up  we  all  pitched  in 
and  sunk  eleven  vessels  in  about  twenty  minutes." 

The  brief  encounter  with  the  Moore  had  been  very 
exciting.  The  vessels  were  alongside  each  other,  and 
both  were  reloading, — the  guns  muzzle  to  muzzle,  and 
but  a  few  feet  apart.  The  gun  that  could  fire  first  would 
decide  the  fate  of  one  or  the  other.  Perkins  sprang  down, 
and,  taking  personal  charge  of  the  smoking  eleven-inch, 
put  fresh  vigor  into  its  loading,  and,  firing  the  instant 
the  rammer  was  withdrawn,  swept  the  Moore's  gun  from 
its  carriage,  and  killed  or  disabled  thirteen  of  its  crew. 

The  Cayuga  still  leading  the  way  up  the  river  came 
upon  a  regiment  at  daylight  encamped  close  to  the  bank, 
and  Perkins,  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  captain,  hailed 
them  and  ordered  them  to  come  on  board  and  deliver 
up  their  arms  or  he  would  "  blow  them  to  pieces." 

It  proved  to  be  the  Chalmette  regiment,  and,  surren 
dering,  the  officers  and  men  were  paroled  and  the  for 
mer  allowed  to  retain  their  side-arms,  "  except,"  said 
Perkins,  k'one  captain,  whom  I  discovered  was  from 
New  Hampshire.  I  took  his  sword  away  from  him  and 
have  kept  it." 

Now  Farragut  came  up  in  the  Hartford  and  sig 
naled  the  fleet  to  anchor.  This  was  near  Quarantine, 
some  five  miles  above  the  forts.  All  the  vessels  had 
succeeded  in  running  the  gauntlet  of  their  fire  except 
three  gunboats,  and  New  Orleans  was  now  practically 
at  the  mercy  of  the  fleet ;  but  the  Varuna  had  been 
rammed  and  sunk  in  the  hot  fight  with  the  enemy's 
flotilla  just  above  St.  Philip. 

The  Cayuga  had  received  forty-two  hits  in  mast  and 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  261 

hull,  and  six  men  had  been  wounded.  The  hurricane 
of  projectiles  had  passed  mostly  too  high  to  do  mortal 
harm  to  her  crew,  due  in  part  to  the  skilful  manner  in 
which  Perkins  had  sheered  in  toward  the  bank  from 
mid-stream  so  early  in  the  fight. 

Resting  until  the  next  morning  to  care  for  the  dead 
and  wounded,  and  the  repair  of  damages,  the  fleet  again 
weighed,  the  Cayuga  still  in  advance  ;  and  when  the 
spires  of  the  city  hove  in  sight  from  her  deck,  "  three 
rousing  cheers  and  a  tiger  "  went  up  from  her  gallant 
crew.  But  the  plucky  little  gunboat  was  getting  ahead 
too  fast,  for  arriving  close  abreast  the  Chalmette  battery, 
which  seemed  to  be  deserted,  she  suddenly  received  a 
fire  that  compelled  a  halt.  Over-matched  five  to  one, 
and  having  been  struck  fourteen  times,  with  shot  and 
shells  dropping  thick  and  fast  about  her,  she  slowed  and 
dropped  back  a  little  with  the  current,  until  the  Hartford 
and  Brooklyn  coming  up  quickly  silenced  the  enemy 
with  their  heavy  broadsides,  while  the  Pensacola  cared 
for  the  hostile  works  on  the  opposite  bank  in  like  man 
ner.  The  fleet  then  kept  on  without  further  obstruction, 
and  arrived  and  anchored  off  the  city  about  noon;  find 
ing  the  levee  along  its  entire  length  aflame  with  burning 
cotton,  coal,  ships,  steamboats,  and  other  property  the 
infuriated  enemy  had  devoted  to  destruction.  The  loss 
to  the  fleet  in  this  daring  and  brilliant  feat  had  been 
thirty-seven  killed  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
wounded. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Lieutenant  Perkins  not  only 
received  high  commendation  from  Captain  Bailey  and 
Lieutenant-Commanding  Harrison,  but  won  the  praise 
and  admiration  of  all  on  board  and  in  the  fleet,  by  the 
coolness  and  intrepidity  shown  by  him  in  every  emer 
gency  of  the  fight  and  passage  up  the  river. 

The  first  tidings   received   in  Washington  foreshad- 


262        SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

owing  the  success  of  the  attack  was  through  rebel  tel 
egrams,  announcing  "one  of  the  enemy's  gunboats" 
—  the  Cayuga  —  "above  the  forts."  Some  question 
subsequently  arose  between  Bailey  and  Farragut  as 
to  the  Cay  it-go's  position  in  the  passage,  which  in  the 
diagrams  accompanying  the  official  reports  contradicted 
the  text, — putting  the  Cayuga  third  instead  of  first  in 
the  van.  Farragut  cheerfully  made  the  correction. 

Soon  after  anchoring,  Bailey  was  ordered  to  go  on 
shore  and  demand  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the 
city,  and  he  asked  Lieutenant  Perkins  to  accompany 
him.  This  duty  was  almost  as  dangerous  and  conspic 
uous  as  the  passage  of  the  forts  had  been,  for  an 
infuriated  and  insolent  mob  followed  them  from  the 
landing  to  the  mayor's  office  and,  while  there  with  the 
mayor  and  General  Lovell,  besieged  the  doors,  demand 
ing  the  "  Yankee  officers  "  to  be  given  up  to  them  to  be 
hung.  The  demonstration  at  last  became  so  threatening 
that  the  mayor  drew  off  the  attention  of  the  mob  by  a 
speech  to  them  in  front  of  the  building,  while  the  Union 
officers  took  a  close  carriage  in  its  rear  and,  driving  rap 
idly  down  to  their  boat,  reached  the  ship  in  safety. 

Bailey  had  managed  to  hoist  the  flag  over  the  mint, 
which  a  party  of  rebels  tore  down  the  next  day,  but  the 
authorities  refused  to  surrender  the  city  or  to  haul  down 
the  insignia  of  rebellion.  Then  ensued  a  correspond 
ence  which,  to  read  at  this  day,  makes  the  blood  boil 
at  rebel  insolence  and  the  wonder  grow  at  Farragut's 
forbearance  ;  but  on  the  2pth  of  April,  he  sent  Fleet 
Captain  Bell  on  shore  with  two  howitzers  manned  by 
sailors  and  a  battalion  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  marines 
and  took  possession  of  the  city.  Meanwhile  the  forts 
had  surrendered  to  Porter  of  the  mortar  fleet,  and  Gen 
eral  Butler,  arriving  on  the  first  of  May,  relieved 
Farragut  of  further  responsibility  as  to  the  city. 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      263 

The  Cayuga  had  been  so  badly  cut  up  by  shot  and 
shell  that  she  was  selected  to  take  Captain  Bailey  north 
as  bearer  of  despatches,  and  landing  him  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  proceeded  on  to  New  York  to  be  refitted.  This 
enabled  Lieutenant  Perkins  to  make  a  short  visit  to 
Concord,  where  his  father,  now  become  judge  of  pro 
bate  of  Merrimack  county,  had  removed,  and  both 
himself  and  the  family  received  many  congratulations, 
personal  and  written,  at  the  brilliant  record  he  had 
made  in  the  recent  memorable  operations  on  the  Mis 
sissippi. 

Modest  and  unassuming,  with  a  genial  frankness  of 
manner  that  told  pleasantly  alike  on  quarter-deck  or 
street,  in  family  circle  or  drawing-room,  he  wore  his 
honors  in  the  quietest  way  possible,  never  speaking  of 
his  own  part  in  the  brave  deeds  of  the  time,  except  when 
pressed  to  do  so,  and  then  with  a  reticence  all  too  provok 
ing,  from  the  well-grounded  suspicion  that  he  kept  back 
the  pith  of  the  real  story  of  personal  participation  he 
might  tell  without  tinge  of  exaggeration  or  boastful- 
ness. 

Returning  to  the  Cayuga  he  found  a  new  command 
ing  officer,  Lieutenant-Commanding  D.  McN.  Fairfax, 
another  loyal  Virginian,  who  not  only  stood  faithful  to 
the  flag  under  all  circumstances,  but  had,  as  the  officer 
from  the  San  Jacinto,  boarded  the  Trent  and  taken 
from  her  the  arch  conspirators,  Mason  and  Slidell,  suf 
fering  the  contumely  of  rebel  womanhood  in  the  reception 
accorded  him  by  Mr.  Commissioner  Slidell's  daughter. 

Fairfax  and  Perkins  had  known  each  other  on  the 
coast  of  Africa,  and  it  was  the  meeting  of  old  friends 
made  doubly  pleasant  by  the  senior's  hearty  apprecia 
tion  of  the  laurels  so  gallantly  won  by  the  junior,  and 
self-congratulation  in  the  promised  comfort  of  retaining 
an  executive  of  so  much  energy,  ability,  and  reputation. 


264  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

Rejoining  Farragut's  squadron,  Perkins  saw  other 
gallant  and  varied  service  in  the  Cayuga  until  Novem 
ber,  1862,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Pensacola^ 
and  the  following  month  commissioned  lieutenant-com 
mander,  a  new  grade  created  by  Congress  to  correspond 
with  that  of  major  in  the  army. 

In  June,  1863,  General  Banks,  then  besieging  Port 
Hudson,  sent  word  to  the  now  Rear  Admiral  Farragut 
that  he  must  have  more  powder  or  give  up  the  siege, 
wherefore  the  Admiral  ordered  the  gunboat  Neiv  Lon 
don  on  the  important  service  of  powder  transportation 
and  convoy,  assigning  Perkins  to  the  command  until 
the  officer  ordered  from  the  North  by  the  department 
should  arrive.  The  enemy  had  possession  at  that  time 
of  some  three  hundred  miles  of  the  river  below  Port 
Hudson,  with  batteries  established  at  various  points  and 
sharpshooters  distributed  along  the  banks. 

Five  times  Perkins  ran  the  fiery  gauntlet  successfully, 
but  on  the  sixth  his  vessel  was  disabled  in  a  sharp  fight 
at  Whitehall's  Point.  One  shot  from  the  enemy  ex 
ploded  the  JVew  London ' s  boiler,  and  another  disabled 
her  steam  chest.  In  that  critical  condition,  directly 
under  the  guns  of  the  hostile  battery,  and  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  sharpshooters  on  the  bank,  and  deserted  by 
his  consort,  the  Winona^  his  position  seemed  desperate 
almost  beyond  remedy  ;  but  fertile  in  expedients  and 
daring  to  rashness  in  their  execution,  he  finally  suc 
ceeded,  after  almost  incredible  exertion  and  perilous 
personal  adventure,  in  communicating  with  the  fleet 
below,  and  the  vessel  was  saved. 

Now  the  commanding  officer  from  the  North  having 
arrived,  Perkins  was  transferred  to  the  command  of  the 
ninety-day  gunboat  Sciota,  the  best  command  at  that 
time  in  the  squadron,  for  an  officer  of  his  years,  and  as 
signed  to  duty  on  the  blockade  off  the  coast  of  Texas. 


•  SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       265 

To  one  of  his  social  disposition  and  active  temperament, 
the  blockade,  ever  harassing  and  monotonous,  was,  as 
he  wrote,  a  "  living  death,"  adding  that  "  we  are  all 
talked  out,  and  sometimes  a  week  passes  and  I  hardly 
speak  more  than  a  necessary  word."  Venturing  ashore 
several  times  on  hunting  excursions,  he  at  last  came 
near  being  captured  by  the  enemy,  and  held  after  that, 
that  "  cabhrd  confinement  was  preferable  to  a  rebel 
prison,"  and  so  kept  on  board.  Once  during  that  weary 
nine  months,  the  tedium  was  broken  by  the  capture  of  a 
fat  prize — a  schooner  loaded  with  cotton.  Let  us  hope 
that  the  prize  court  and  its  attendant  officials  did  not 
absorb  too  big  a  share  of  the  proceeds  ! 

Relieved  from  that  command  late  in  May,  1864,  with 
leave  to  proceed  home,  he  arrived  at  New  Orleans  in 
June,  to  find  active  preparations  for  the  Mobile  fight 
going  on,  and  though  he  had  not  been  at  home  for  two 
years,  he  could  not  stand  it  to  let  slip  so  glorious  an 
opportunity  for  stirring  service,  and  so  volunteered  to 
remain.  Farragut,  delighted  at  such  determination, 
quite  different  from  the  experience  he  had  had  with  some 
officers,  assigned  to  Perkins  a  command  above  his  rank — 
the  Chickasaiu — a  double-turreted  monitor,  carrying 
four  eleven-inch  guns  and  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  men  and  twenty-five  officers.  She  had  been 
built,  together  with  the  Winnebago,  a  sister  vessel,  at 
St.  Louis,  by  Mr.  Joseph  B.  Eads,  the  eminent  engi 
neer,  on  plans  of  his  own.  Of  light  draught  and  frame, 
and  peculiar  construction,  some  officers  distrusted  her 
strength  and  sea-going  qualities.  The  Chickascwv,  too, 
was  notyet  completed,  the  mechanics  being  still  atwork 
on  her  machinery  and  fittings,  and  her  crew,  with  the 
exception  of  half  a  dozen  men-of-war's-men,  were  river 
men  and  landsmen,  knowing  nothing  of  salt-water 
sailing  or  of  naval  discipline.  But  time  pressed;  every 


266        SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

moment  was  of  priceless  value  ;  and  Perkins,  declining 
all  social  invitations,  set  about  with  characteristic  energy 
to  prepare  his  ship  for  the  coming  conflict.  Nor  did  his 
work  of  preparation  and  drill  cease,  either  in  the  river 
or  outside,  until  well  into  the  night  preceding  the  event 
ful  day  in  Mobile  Bay  that  was  to  add  another  brilliant 
page  to  the  annals  of  the  navy. 

On  the  28th  of  July,  he  left  New  Orleans  to  join  the 
fleet  off  Mobile,  and  on  the  way  down  the  river  an  epi 
sode  occurred  that  came  nigh  settling  the  fate  of  the 
Chickasaw  without  risk  or  chance  of  battle  ;  for  on 
nearing  the  bar,  Perkins  left  the  pilot  house  a  moment 
to  look  after  some  matters  requiring  attention  outside. 
He  hardly  reached  the  spot  he  sought,  when,  turning 
round,  he  saw  that  the  pilot  had  changed  the  ship's 
course  and  was  heading  directly  for  a  wreck  close 
aboard,  which  to  strike  would  end  the  career  of  the 
Chickasaw  then  and  there.  Springing  back  into  the 
pilot  house,  he  seized  the  wheel  and  brought  the  ship 
back  on  her  course,  then  snatching  a  pistol  from  his 
belt,  said  to  the  traitorous  fellow:  "  You  are  here  to 
take  this  ship  over  the  bar,  and  if  she  touches  ground 
or  anything  else,  I  '11  blow  your  d — d  brains  out !  "  Pale 
with  suppressed  rage,  and  trembling  with  fear,  the  pilot 
expostulated  that  "the  bottom  was  lumpy,  and  the  best 
pilot  in  the  river  could  not  help  touching  at  times." 
"  No  matter,"  rejoined  Perkins,  "  if  you  love  the  Con 
federacy  better  than  your  life,  take  your  choice  ;  but  if 
you  touch  a  single  lump,  I  '11  shoot  you  !  "  Needless  to 
say,  no  lumps  were  found,  nor  that  the  pilot  made  haste 
to  get  out  of  such  company  the  moment  he  was  per 
mitted  to  do  so  ;  neither  may  we  doubt  that  the  recording 
angel  traced,  with  lightest  hand,  the  strong  language 
used  by  the  nearly  betrayed  captain  ! 

The    Chickasaw    arrived   off   Mobile    bar  August   i, 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  267 

where  all  was  expectancy  and  preparation  for  the  com 
ing  fight,  a  fight  wrhich  perhaps  had  more  in  it  of  dramatic 
interest  than  any  other  naval  battle  of  the  war.  The 
wooden  ships  pushing  into  the  bay  through  the  torpedo- 
strewn  channel  and  under  the  fierce  storm  of  shot  and 
shell  from  Fort  Morgan,  lashed  together  in  pairs  for 
mutual  support  in  case  of  disaster ;  the  sudden  and 
tragic  sinking  of  the  Tecumseh  by  torpedo  stroke,  with 
the  loss  of  the  heroic  Craven  and  most  of  his  brave 
officers  and  men  ;  the  halt  of  the  Brooklyn  in  mid- 
channel  in  face  of  that  dire  disaster,  which,  with  the 
threatened  huddling  of  the  ships  together  by  the  inward 
sweep  of  the  tide,  portended  swift  discomfiture  and  pos 
sible  defeat ;  the  intuitive  perception  and  quick  decision 
that  literally  enabled  Farragut  to  take  the  flood  that  led 
to  fortune,  in  the  instant  ordering  of  the  Hartford  to 
push  ahead  with  his  flag  and  assume  the  lead  he  had 
relinquished  only  at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Brooklyn's 
commander  ;  the  restored  order  and  prompt  following  of 
the  fleet,  regardless  of  torpedoes,  on  the  new  course 
blazed  out  by  the  eagle  eye  and  emphatic  tongue  of  the 
fearless  old  admiral  as  he  grappled  with  the  emergency 
from  the  futtock  shrouds  of  the  flagship  ;  the  little  boat 
putting  oft'  from  the  Metacoviet,  suddenly  lighted  up  by 
its  saucy  ensign,  in  the  midst  of  the  fiery  chaos  and 
thunderous  roar  of  battle,  to  save  the  few  souls  strug 
gling  in  the  water  from  the  ill-fated  Tecumseh,  calling 
forth  admiration,  alike  from  friend  and  foe,  at  the  intre 
pidity  of  its  mission  :  the  dash  of  the  enemy's  powerful 
ram  Tennessee,  clad  in  heaviest  armor,  down  the  Union 
line,  endeavoring  to  strike  each  vessel  in  turn  ;  the  sep 
aration  of  the  coupled  ships  when  beyond  the  reach  of 
Morgan's  guns,  and  the  dash  of  the  gunboats  led  by 
Jouett,  of  the  Metacomet,  like  hounds  released  from 
the  leash,  at  the  enemy's  flotilla ;  the  reappearance  of 


268  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

leviathan  Tennessee  and  the  fierce  tournament  that 
ensued,  with  turtle-backed  Chickasaiv  following  close 
under  her  stern  with  bulldog  grip  that  knew  no  release  ; 
the  intrepid  skill  and  desperate  valor  never  surpassed, 
with  which  the  ram  manoeuvred  and  withstood  the  ham 
mering  and  ramming  of  the  wooden  ships,  the  pounding 
and  shattering  of  the  iron-clads,  before  she  yielded  to 
the  inevitable  fate  that  awaited  her, — all  conspired  to 
form  a  scene  of  grand  and  dramatic  circumstance  almost 
without  parallel  in  naval  warfare. 

The  youngest  officer  in  command  on  that  day — the 
5th  of  August — so  fateful  to  the  fading  fortunes  of  the 
Confederacy,  so  glorious  to  the  re-ascendant  star  of 
Union,  no  one  contributed  more  to  its  glories  and  suc 
cess  than  Perkins  of  the  Chickasaiv ;  and  in  any  other 
service  under  the  sun  he  would  have  received  immediate 
promotion  for  what  he  did  on  that  day.  Had  he  been 
an  Englishman,  the  honors  of  knighthood  would  have 
been  conferred  on  him,  as  well  as  promotion,  but  as  an 
American  he  still  waits  adequate  recognition  for  deeds 
as  brave  as  they  were  conspicuous  and  telling. 

Said  Mr.  Eads,  the  builder,  when  he  heard  the 
results  of  the  battle  and  the  surpassing  part  of  the 
Chickasaw  in  it:  "I  would  walk  fifty  miles  to  shake 
hands  with  the  young  man  who  commanded  her!" 
And  remembering  the  disparagement  that  had  been  put 
on  the  vessel  and  her  sister  ship,  the  Winnebago,  his  en 
thusiasm  knew  no  bounds,  and  he  took  pains  to  gather 
all  the  details  of  the  Chickasaw 's  brilliant  work. 

With  the  loss  of  the  Tecumseh,  the  iron-clad  portion 
of  the  fleet  was  reduced  to  the  Manhattan,  armed  with 
two  fifteen-inch  guns,  and  the  Chickasaw  and  Winne- 
bago  of  two  eleven-inch  guns  each ;  but  one  of  the 
Manhattan's  guns  became  disabled  early  in  the  action, 
by  a  bit  of  iron  lodging  in  the  vent,  and  the  Wtnne- 


SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS.  269 

bago's  turrets  would  not  turn,  so  that  her  guns  could 
be  pointed  only  by  manoeuvring  the  vessel.  But  the 
Chickasa-W)  owing  to  Perkins's  foresight  and  hard  work, 
was  in  perfect  condition,  as  illustrated  in  all  her  service 
on  that  eventful  day,  as  well  as  on  all  subsequent  occa 
sions,  until  the  capitulation  of  Mobile  ended  the  drama 
of  rebellion  on  the  Southern  seaboard. 

The  wooden  ships,  stripped  as  at  New  Orleans  for  the 
stern  work  in  hand,  numbered  fourteen,  and  the  number 
of  guns  carried  by  the  fleet  was  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five,  throwing,  by  added  facility  of  pivot  and  turret, 
ninety-two  hundred  and  eight  pounds  of  metal  in  broad 
side,  from  which  thirteen  hundred  and  twenty  must  be 
deducted  through  the  early  loss  of  the  Te.cumseh  and 
the  disabled  gun  of  the  Manhattan. 

The  enemy's  defenses  consisted  of  Fort  Morgan,  com 
manding  the  channel  at  Mobile  Point,  mounting  seventy 
guns  ;  Fort  Gaines  on  the  eastern  point  of  Dauphin 
Island,  some  three  miles  northwest  of  Fort  Morgan, 
armed  with  thirty  guns,  and  Fort  Powell,  about  four 
miles  from  Gaines  northwest,  at  Grant's  Pass,  with  four 
guns. 

Across  the  channel,  which  runs  close  to  Morgan, 
several  lines  of  torpedoes  were  planted,  and  just  beyond 
them  to  the  northward  of  the  fort,  in"  line  abreast  wait 
ing  their  opportunity,  was  the  rebel  squadron,  compris 
ing  the  Tennessee,  flagship  of  Admiral  Buchanan,  and 
the  gunboats  Morgan,  Gaines,  and  Selma,  carrying  in 
the  aggregate  twenty-two  guns, — eight  rifles  and  four 
teen  smooth-bores.  The  Tennessee,  the  most  powerful 
ship  that  ever  flew  the  Confederate  flag,  was  two  hun 
dred  and  nine  feet  in  length,  and  forty-eight  feet  in  width 
with  a  heavy  iron  spur  projecting  from  the  bow  some 
two  feet  under  water.  Her  sides  "tumbled  home"  at 
an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees  and  were  clad  in  armor 


270       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

of  five  and  six  inches  thickness,  over  a  structure  of  oak 
and  pine  of  twenty-five  inches.  Her  guns,  six  heavy 
Brooke's  rifles,  were  arranged,  by  port  and  pivot,  for 
an  effective  all-round  fire,  and  her  speed  was  six  knots. 

All  was  ready  for  the  attack  on  the  evening  of  the 
4th  of  August,  and  at  half-past  five  the  next  morning 
the  signal  was  thrown  out  to  weigh  and  fall  into  the 
order  prescribed ;  the  wooden  ships  in  couples,  and  the 
iron-dads  in  line  by  themselves  ;  the  Tecumseh  in  the 
van  and  the  Chickasaiv  in  rear,  according  to  the  rank 
of  their  commanding  officers. 

At  half-past  six  the  fleet  was  across  the  bar  and  in 
order  of  battle.  No  starlight  or  favoring  clouds  now  to 
partially  mask  its  movements  as  at  the  passage  of  Forts 
Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  but  the  joyous  sunshine  flood 
ing  land  and  sea  with  its  brightness,  and  mirroring  its 
revealing  gleams  upon  fort  and  ship  and  pennon,  serv 
ing  friend  and  foe  alike  impartially.  Alas  !  for  the 
brave  souls  to  whom  that  gracious  morning  light  was 
the  last  of  earth,  but  we  may  hope  they  awoke  in  a 
light  of  still  more  radiance  and  glory,  and  amid  pasans 
of  a  joyous  host,  choiring  "Well  done,  thou  good  and 
faithful  servants,  that  didst  give  thy  lives  to  God  and 
country  !" 

The  soft  south  wind  of  that  fair  morn  came  like  a 
benediction  to  the  fleet  now  sweeping  on  with  the  flood- 
tide,  and  stillness  like  a  sentient  presence,  only  disturbed 
by  the  sound  of  screw  or  paddle-wheel  as  they  turned 
ahead,  hung  over  the  ships  till  broken  by  the  belching 
roar  of  the  Tecumsetts  monster  guns,  as  she  threw  two 
fifteen-inch  shells  into  Morgan — her  first  and  last! 
And  now,  at  seven,  "  by  the  chime,"  the  action  became 
general,  and  the  Tecumseh,  having  loaded  with  heaviest 
charge  and  solid  steel  shot,  steamed  on  ahead  of  the 
Brooklyn  to  attack  the  Tennessee ;  but  Craven,  think- 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      271 

ing  he  saw  a  movement  on  the  part  of  the  ram  to  get 
out  of  the  way,  together  with  the  seemingly  too  narrow 
space  between  the  fatal  buoy  and  the  shore  for  man 
oeuvre  in  case  of  need,  gave  the  order  to  starboard  the 
helm,  and  head  directly  for  the  watchful  Tennessee, 
waiting  with  lock-strings  in  hand  to  salute  the  monitor 
as  she  closed — gallant  foeinen  worthy  of  her  steel  !  So 
near  and  yet  so  far,  for  hardly  had  the  Tecumseh  gone  a 
length  to  the  westward  of  the  sentinel  buoy,  than  the 
fate,  already  outlined,  overwhelmed  her,  and  her  iron 
walls  became  coffin,  shroud,  and  winding-sheet  to 
Craven  and  most  of  the  brave  souls  with  him,  and  all  so 
suddenly  that  those  who  had  seen  the  disaster  could 
hardly  realize  what  had  taken  place. 

Ours  is  not  the  purpose  to  follow  further  the  details 
of  the  fight,  but  to  go  with  Perkins  in  the  Chickasaw 
and  see  things  as  he  saw  them  on  that  stirring  day,  as 
gathered  from  his  letters  and  as  fortified  from  other 
sources.  Of  tireless  energy  and  restless  activity,  and 
sternly  intent  upon  making  the  Chickasatv  second  to 
none  in  the  grand  work  demanded  of  the  fleet,  hs 
imparted  nerve  and  enthusiasm  throughout  the  vessel ; 
now  in  the  pilot-house,  looking  after  the  helmsman  ; 
then  in  the  forward  turret,  personally  sighting  the  guns  ; 
anon  on  top  of  the  turret,  taking  in  the  surroundings. 

His  fine  spirit  and  high  moral  courage  had  charac 
teristic  illustration  when,  the  night  before  the  fight, 
calling  his  officers  into  the  cabin,  he  thus  addressed 
them  :  '*  Gentlemen,  by  this  time  to-morrow  the  fate  of 
this  fleet  and  of  Mobile  will  be  sealed.  We  have  all  a 
duty  to  perform  and  a  victory  to  win.  I  have  sent  for 
you  to  say  that  not  a  drop  of  wine,  liquor,  or  beer  is  to 
be  drunk  on  board  of  this  vessel  from  this  hour  until  the 
battle  is  over  and  the  victory  won,  or  death  has  come  to 
us.  It  is  my  wish  that  every  officer  and  man  shall  go 


272       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

into  battle  with  a  clear  head  and  strong  nerves.  I 
rely  upon  you  to  comply  with  this  requirement,  confi 
dent  that  the  Chickasaw  and  her  crew  can  thus  best 
perform  their  whole  duty." 

An  officer  who  held  high  position  on  board  the  flag-ship 
writes  :  "Perkins  went  into  the  fight  in  his  shirtsleeves 
and  a  straw  hat,  and  as  he  passed  the  Hartford,  he  was  on 
top  of  the  turret  waving  his  hat  and  dancing  around  with 
delight  and  excitement."  "The  iron-dads,"  said  Per 
kins,  "were  ordered  to  follow  inside  the  fleet,  between  fleet 
and  fort.  I  had  orders  to  be  reserve  force  and  remain 
with  wooden  vessels  after  passing  obstructions.  Our 
course  was  between  a  certain  buoy  and  the  shore.  This 
passage  was  known  to  be  free  from  torpedoes,  and  was 
left  for  the  blockade  runners.  All  the  vessels  had 
orders  to  keep  between  that  buoy  and  shore,  but  in 
other  respects  the  iron-clads  had  separate  orders  from 
the  wooden  vessels.  In  the  confusion  resulting  from 
the  destruction  of  the  Tecumseh  and  the  movements  of 
the  Brooklyn,  the  monitors  received  no  orders  and  fol 
lowed  in  the  line  of  the  other  vessels."  Be  it  said  in 
passing  that  Perkins  had  no  pilot,  and  at  sight  of  the 
Tccumsctis  doom,  one  of  the  men  in  the  pilot-house 
fainted,  leaving  only  Perkins  and  one  man  to  steer  the 
vessel  until  the  vigorous  methods  applied  brought  the 
man  to  and  freshened  his  pluck  !  The  pilot-house  was 
abaft  the  forward  turret,  not  on  top,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Tecumseh  class,  and  was  entered  through  a  trap 
door  which  was  kept  open  during  the  fight,  for  the 
vessel  being  unfinished  there  was  no  way  of  opening  it 
from  inside  when  closed. 

"I  pushed  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible,  but  my 
ship  anyway  was  stationed  last  of  the  iron-clads,  as  I 
was  youngest  in  command.  We  fired  at  the  fort  to 
keep  down  its  fire  till  the  wooden  ships  had  passed. 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       273 

When  the  Tennessee  passed,  it  was  on  my  port  side  ; 
she  then  steamed  toward  Fort  Morgan.  Some  of  our 
vessels  anchored,  others  kept  under  way,  and  when 
the  Tennessee  approached  the  fleet  again  she  was  at 
once  attacked  by  the  wooden  vessels,  but  they  made  no 
impression  upon  her.  An  order  was  now  brought  to 
the  iron-clads  by  Fleet  Surgeon  Palmer  for  them  to 
attack  the  ram,  but  as  they  stood  for  her,  she  seemed 
again  to  move  as  if  retiring  toward  the  fort,  but  the 
Chickasaw  overtook  her,  and  after  a  short  engagement 
succeeded  in  forcing  her  to  surrender,  having  shot 
away  her  smoke-stack,  destroyed  her  steering  gear,  and 
jammed  her  after  ports  so  that  her  stern  guns  were 
rendered  useless.  As  she  could  not  steer  she  drifted 
dovvn  the  bay  head  on,  and  I  followed  her  close,  firing 
as  fast  as  I  could,  my  guns  and  turrets,  in  spite  of  the 
strain  upon  them,  continuing  in  perfect  order.  When 
Johnston  came  on  the  roof  of  the  Tennessee  and  showed 
the  white  flag  as  signal  of  surrender,  no  vessel  of  the 
fleet  was  as  near  as  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  but  the  Ossipee 
was  approaching,  and  her  captain  was  much  older  than 
myself.  I  was  wet  with  perspiration,  begrimed  with 
powder,  and  exhausted  by  long-continued  exertion.  I 
drew  back  and  allowed  Captain  LeRoy  to  receive  the 
surrender,  though  my  first  lieutenant,  Hamilton,  said 
to  me  at  the  time:  'Captain,  you  are  making  a  mis 
take.'" 

Knowing  full  well  that  the  Chickasaiv's  eleven-inch 
shot  would  not  penetrate  the  stout  side-armor  of  the 
Tennessee,  Perkins  made  for  the  weakest  part  of  the 
vessel — her  stern — and  hung  there  close  aboard,  pour 
ing  solid  shot  of  iron  and  steel  into  that  vital  part  with 
the  accuracy  of  pistol-shooting,  until  the  ram  surren 
dered  ;  then  taking  her  in  tow,  carried  her  near  the 
flagship.  He  had  fired  fifty-two  shots,  aud  says  the 
18 


274       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

officer  of  the  Hartford  already  quoted,  "The  guns  of 
the  Chickasaw  jammed  the  steering  gear  of  the  ram, 
also  the  port  stopper  of  the  after  port,  disabling  the  after 
gun,  and  a  shot  from  the  Chickasaw  broke  Admiral 
Buchanan's  leg." 

But  said  Commander  Nicholson  of  the  Manhattan,  in 
his  official  report:  "  Of  the  six  fifteen-inch  projectiles 
fired  from  this  vessel  at  the  rebel  iron-clad  Tennessee, 
I  claim  four  as  having  struck,  doing  most  of  the  real 
injuries  that  she  has  sustained  ;  "  then  enumerating  the 
injuries  inflicted,  which  included  most  of  those  claimed 
for  the  Chickasaw.  Upon  which  claim  put  forth  by  the 
Manhattan,  the  writer  ventures  the  opinion  :  First, 
that  four  hits  out  of  six  shots  were  poor  shooting  for  a 
monitor  at  a  target  like  the  Tennessee,  and  suggestive 
of  considerable  distance  between  the  vessels  ;  second, 
that  eye-witnesses  have  affirmed  that  only  one  of  the 
Manhattan's  shot  took  effect,  a  solid  shot  that  struck 
the  ram  on  the  port  beam,  crushing  her  armor  and 
splintering  the  backing,  but  not  entering  the  casemate, 
though  leaving  a  clean  hole  through  ;  third,  that  the 
effect  of  that  one  shot  showed  what  the  Manhattan 
might  have  accomplished  had  she  taken  as  favorable  a 
position  as  that  chosen  by  the  Chickasaw,  fourth,  that 
it  is  believed  the  report  of  a  board  of  survey  confirmed 
the  opinion  as  to  that  one  shot;  fifth,  that,  as  between 
the  great  difference  of  sound  in  the  firing  of  the  fifteen- 
inch  gun  and  an  eleven-inch,  and  the  greater  destructive 
effect  of  the  larger  projectiles  which  could  not  but  be 
felt  by  those  receiving  it,  the  enemy  would  best  be 
likely  to  know  from  what  source  they  sustained  the 
most  vital  damage  ;  sixth,  that  the  concurrent  opinions 
of  the  day,  as  given  by  press  correspondents,  eye-wit 
nesses  to  the  conflict,  magazine  summaries,  official 
reports,  the  praise  of  Perkins  on  every  lip,  the  talk  of 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      275 

his  promotion  by  distinguished  officers,  and  the  testi 
mony  of  the  enemy  themselves,  including  Admiral 
Buchanan  and  Captain  Johnston,  all  go  to  show  that 
the  surrender  of  the  Tennessee  was  due  more  to  the 
dogged  and  unrelenting  effort  and  skilful  manage 
ment  of  Perkins  of  the  Chickasaiu  than  to  any  other 
cause. 

Asked  the  Tennessee's  pilot  of  Metaccmet  Jouett : 
44  Who  commanded  the  monitor  that  got  under  our 
stern?"  adding,  "D — n  him!  he  stuck  to  us  like  a 
leech  ;  we  could  not  get  away  from  him.  It  was  he 
who  cut  away  the  steering  gear,  jammed  the  stern  port 
shutters,  and  wounded  Admiral  Buchanan." 

Said  Captain  Johnston,  in  the  same  vein  :  "  If  it  had 
not  been  for  that  d — d  black  hulk  hanging  on  our  stern 
we  would  have  got  along  well  enough  ;  she  did  us  more 
damage  than  all  the  rest  of  the  federal  fleet." 

"  The  praise  of  Commander  Perkins,"  wrote  a  son  of 
Concord,  himself  an  active  participant  in  the  fight,  4'on 
the  superb  management  of  his  command,  and  the  most 
admirable  and  efficient  working  of  his  ship,  was  upon 
the  lips  of  all." 

Pages  of  similar  commendation  might  be  quoted,  but 
what  need  to  multiply  testimony  so  direct  and  conclusive 
as  to  Perkins's  gallantry  and  achievement,  questioned 
only  in  quarters  where  the  discretion  of  silence  and  sug 
gestion  of  modesty  had  best  been  observed  ! 

It  only  remains  to  add,  in  this  connection,  that  so 
long  as  the  Tennessee  continued  to  flaunt  her  flag  in  face 
of  the  fleet,  so  long  the  work  of  that  glorious  day  was 
of  naught ;  that  her  capture,  due  in  greatest  part  to  the 
efforts  of  the  Chickasaw^  completed  the  work,  and  en 
sured,  without  embarrassment,  the  continued  operations 
against  Fort  Morgan  and  other  defenses  in  the  bay. 

Perkins,    not  content  with  laurels  already  won,  got 


276  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

under  way  after  dinner,  and  steamed  up  to  Fort 
Powell,  taking  that  work  in  rear.  The  shots  from  the 
Chickasaw  destroyed  the  water-tanks,  and  Captain 
Anderson  reported  that,  believing  it  to  be  impossible  to 
drive  the  iron-clad  from  its  position,  and  fearing  that  a 
shell  from  the  Chickasaw  would  explode  the  magazine, 
he  decided  to  save  his  command  and  blow  up  the  fort, 
which  was  done  that  night  at  10  130.  In  the  afternoon 
the  Chickasaw  had  seized  a  barge  loaded  with  stores, 
from  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Powell,  and  towed  it  to  the 
fleet. 

The  next  afternoon,  the  ever-ready  and  alert  Chicka- 
saw,  under  her  indefatigable  commander,  went  down 
to  Fort  Gaines  and  shelled  that  work  until  dusk  with 
such  telling  effect  that,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the 
land  force  under  General  Granger,  investing  its  rear, 
was  now  ready  to  open  fire  in  conjunction  with  the  fleet, 
the  rebel  commander  capitulated  the  next  morning. 

Morgan  was  now  the  only  remaining  work  of  the 
outer  line  of  Mobile's  defenses  to  be  <4  possessed  and 
occupied,"  and  General  Granger,  after  throwing  a  suf 
ficient  garrison  into  Gaines,  transferred  his  army  and 
siege  train  to  the  other  side  of  the  bay,  and  landing  at 
Navy  Cove,  some  four  miles  from  Morgan,  began  its 
investment. 

While  this  was  going  on,  the  Chickasaiv  was  not  idle, 
but  continually  using  her  guns  at  one  point  and  another, 
with  occasional  exchanges  of  shotted  compliments  \\ith 
the  rams  and  batteries  across  the  obstructions  in  Dog 
River,  forming  the  inner  line' of  defense  of  the  citv, 
some  four  miles  distant. 

On  the  22cl  of  August,  the  approaches  having  been 
completed,  the  land  and  naval  forces  opened  A  terrific 
fire  on  devoted  Morgan,  and  continued  it  throughout 
the  day  with  such  effect  that  General  Page,  command- 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.      277 

ing  the  garrison,  struck  his  colors  and  surrendered  the 
next  day. 

The  Chickasaiu  was  as  conspicuous  in  the  bombard 
ment  as  she  had  been  in  all  her  work  since  entering 
the  bay.  It  was  not  in  Perkins's  temperament  to  be 
otherwise,  and  said  an  eye-witness  at  the  time  : 
44  It  was  a  glorious  sight  to  see  the  gallant  Per 
kins  in  the  Chickasaiu,  nearly  all  the  morning  al 
most  touching  the  wharf,  and  pouring  in  his  terrible 
missiles,  two  at  a  time,  making  bricks  and  mortar 
fly  in  all  direction,  then  moving  ahead  or  astern 
a  little  to  get  a  fresh  place.  He  stayed  there  till  nearly 
noon,  when  he  hauled  off  to  cool  his  guns  and  give  his 
men  some  refreshment.  In  the  afternoon,  he  took  his 
ship  in  again,  and  turret  after  turret  was  emptied  at  the 
poor  fort." 

Perkins  sent  home  the  flag  that  had  flown  over  the 
fort  during  the  bombardment ;  he  obtained  it  in  this 
wise  :  "The  sailors  from  this  ship,"  said  he,  ''  hauled 
down  the  flag,  and  one  of  them  seized  it  and  hid  it  in 
his  bosom  ;  there  was  not  much  left  of  it ;  it  was  rid 
dled  and  torn.  He  brought  it  to  me,  declaring  that  no 
one  had  a  right  to  it  but  the  captain  of  the  Chickasaw. 
I  hardly  knew  what  to  do  about  it ;  but  the  man  seemed 
so  earnest  I  could  not  refuse  to  take  it  from  him." 

The  bay  was  now  sealed  to  blockade  runners,  and 
Mobile,  measured  as  to  its  commercial  importance  to 
the  Confederacy,  might  as  well  have  been  located 
among  the  mountains  of  northern  Alabama  as  on  the 
gulf;  and  owing  to  strategic  reasons,  operations  for  its 
immediate  reduction  came  to  a  halt.  But  on  the  27th 
of  March,  1865,  the  land  and  naval  forces  began  a  joint 
movement  against  the  defenses  surrounding  the  city* 
and  on  the  I2th  of  April  the  Union  forces  were  in  full 
possession.  In  these  last  operations,  which  cost  the 


278  SKETCH    OF    CAPT.    GEO.    HAMILTON    PERKINS. 

loss  of  two  light  draught  iron-dads,  a  gunboat,  and  sev 
eral  other  smaller  vessels  by  torpedoes,  we  may  know 
that  the  Chickasaw  was  never  in  the  background. 

In  July,  Perkins  was  relieved  from  the  command  and 
ordered  home.  He  had  volunteered  for  the  Mobile 
fight  but  had  been  detained  on  board  the  Chickasaw 
nearly  thirteen  months. 

On  his  arrival  home  he  was  overwhelmed  with  con 
gratulations  upon  his  gallantry  and  achievements  in 
Mobile  Bay  ;  but  his  friends  felt  indignant  that  no  pro 
motion  had  followed  them,  believing  that  at  least  the 
thirty  numbers  authorized  by  statute,  "  for  eminent  and 
conspicuous  conduct  in  battle,"  could  not  be  reasonably 
denied  him.  But  he  would  not  work  personally  toward 
that  end,  nor  pull  political  wires  to  attain  it.  With  him, 
the  promotion  must  come  unasked  or  not  at  all.  It 
never  came,  and  others  disputed,  with  unblushing 
effrontery,  the  laurels  he  had  won.  Not  only  that,  but 
he  has  seen,  as  well  as  others,  those  who  did  the  least 
service  during  the  war,  given  recognition  and  place 
over  those  who  "  bore  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day," 
during  those  four  years  so  momentous  in  the  annals  of 
the  republic. 

The    following    winter    he    was    stationed    at    New 

o 

Orleans,  in  charge  of  iron-clads,  and  in  May,  1866, 
was  ordered  as  executive  officer  of  the  Lackawanna, 
for  a  cruise  of  three  years  in  the  North  Pacific.  The 
"  piping  times  of  peace"  had  come,  and  officers  who 
had  had  important  commands  now  had  to  take  a  step 
back  to  the  regular  duties  of  their  grade.  Returning 
from  the  Pacific  in  the  early  spring  of  1869,  he  was 
ordered  to  the  Boston  navy  yard  on  ordnance  duty, 
and  in  March,  1871,  received  his  commission  as  com 
mander.  Two  months  later  he  was  selected  to  com 
mand  the  storeship  Relief ]  to  carry  provisions  to  the 


SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS.       279 

suffering  French  of  the  Franco-German  War.  On  his 
return,  after  a  lapse  of  six  months,  he  resumed  his 
duties  at  the  Boston  yard,  until  appointed  lighthouse 
inspector  of  the  Boston  district,  which  position  he  held 
until  January,  1876. 

Meanwhile  he  had  taken  to  himself  a  wife,  having, 
in  1870,  married  Miss  Anna  Minot  Weld  of  Boston. 
The  issue  of  the  marriage  has  been  one  child,  a  daugh 
ter,  born  in  1877. 

From  March,  1877,  until  May,  1879,  he  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  United  States  steamer  Ashuelot  on  the 
Asiatic  station,  making  a  most  interesting  cruise,  and 
having,  for  a  time,  the  pleasure  of  General  Grant's 
company  on  board  as  a  guest. 

Since  his  return  from  that  cruise  he  has  been  on 
"waiting  orders,"  varied  by  occasional  duty  as  mem 
ber  of  courts-martial,  boards  of  examination,  and  the 
like. 

In  March,  1882,  he  was  promoted  to  a  post-captaincy, 
as  the  grade  of  captain  in  the  navy  was  styled  in  the 
olden  time,  which  grade  corresponds  with  that  of 
colonel  in  the  army. 

Captain  Perkins  has  a  house  in  Boston,  where  he 
makes  his  home  in  winter,  but  nothing  has  ever  weak 
ened  his  affection  for  the  old  Granite  state,  and  noth 
ing  delights  him  more,  when  possible  to  do  so,  than  to 
put  behind  him  the  whirl  and  distraction  of  the  city  for 
the  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  fresh,  exhilarating  air, 
unpretentious,  wholesome  life,  and  substantial  ways 
that  await  him  among  his  dear  native  hills. 

In  glancing  over  the  "  Portraits  for  Posterity,"  the 
writer  notes  the  conspicuous  absence  of  naval  repre 
sentation  among  the  "counterfeit  presentments"  that 
adorn  the  walls  of  the  capitol  at  Concord  and  the  halls 
of  Dartmouth,  and  ventures  to  suggest  to  Governor 


280       SKETCH  OF  CAPT.  GEO.  HAMILTON  PERKINS. 

Prescott,  the  distinguished  and  indefatigable  collector 
of  most  of  the  pictures,  that  portraits  of  Thornton  of  the 
Kearsarge,  and  Perkins  of  the  Cayuga  and  Chickasaw, 
might  fittingly  be  given  place  among  those  who,  in  the 
varied  walks  of  life,  have  lent  distinction  and  added 
lustre  to  the  Province  and  State  of  New  Hampshire 
from  colonial  times  to  this.  Let  not  the  men  of  the 
sea  be  forgotten  ! 


COMMODORE  GEORGE  H.  PERKINS. 


ADDENDA. 


After  the  first  edition  of  this  book  was  printed,  I  met 
Capt.  Horace  Herbert  of  the  i6th  New  Hampshire, 
who  had  served  daring  the  war.  When  I  found  that 
he  had  been  a  witness  ot  the  part  Captain  Perkins  bore 
in  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  I  was  sorry  that  I  had  not 
met  him  before,  as  I  found  his  statements  fully  con 
firmed  the  strongest  claims  made  for  the  Chickasaiv. 

Captain  Herbert's  regiment  was  stationed  at  Pensa- 
cola  in  1864,  and  on  the  morning  fixed  for  our  fleet  to 
move  up  Mobile  Bay,  General  Ashboth,  who  com 
manded  at  Pensacola,  took  the  transport  Clyde  and 
with  a  number  of  officers,  among  whom  was  Captain 
Herbert,  went  to  witness  the  advance.  That  need  not 
be  recapitulated  here,  as  my  only  wish  is  to  preserve 
Captain  Herbert's  statements  about  my  brother. 

He  said,  "  When  the  (^hickasaw  went  past,  the  only 
officer  visible  above  -her  deck  was  Captain  Perkins, 
and  she  was  watched  with  the  greatest  interest,  on 
account  of  her  wonderfully  rapid  and  skiltul  manoeu 
vring.  Being  assured  of  the  successful  passage  of  the 
forts,  the  Clyde  returned  to  Pensacola.  The  next  day 
the  Metacomct  arrived  there  from  Mobile,  bringing 
both  the  federal  and  rebel  wounded.  Among  the  latter 
was  Admiral  Buchanan,  who  was  feverish  from  his 
wound  by  the  time  he  reached  Pensacola,  and  was 
longing  for  ice.  I  had  a  little  in  the  storehouse  at 
Barrancas,  which  I  brought  down  for  him,  and  he  was 
very  grateful.  He  sent  for  me,  that  he  might  express 


282  ADDENDA. 

his  thanks  in  person.  After  this  I  often  saw  him,  and 
he  conversed  very  freely  with  me.  He  would  talk  by 
the  hour  about  the  Mobile  fight,  and  he  gave  the  whole 
credit  of  the  capture  of  the  Tennessee  to  the  Chickasaw. 
He  said  the  Tennessee  would  have  beaten  our  entire 
fleet  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  monitor,  which  seemed 
to  move  by  magic  !  it  would  turn  round  three  times  to 
the  Tennessee's  once  and  seemed  to  be  everywhere. 
He  said  that  the  Tennessee's  crew  became  exhausted 
repelling  its  attacks,  while  the  Chickasaw's  were  as 
fresh  as  ever,  and  in  fact,  '  she  seemed  like  a  very 

d 1,'  to  quote  Admiral  Buchanan's  words.     He  said 

over  and  over  again  how  different  would  have  been  the 

result  if  he  could  have  shaken  off  that  '  d d   little 

Chickasaw'  After  the  battle  Pensacola  filled  up  with 
officers  and  men  from  the  ships  at  Mobile,  and  no  ship 
but  the  Chickasaw  was  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  capture  of  the  Tennessee.  All  were  full  of  enthu 
siasm  about  '  little  Perkins,'  as  they  called  him.  It 
seemed  as  if  they  could  not  praise  his  courage  and 
good  judgment  enough  ;  they  said  his  ship  was  in  per 
fect  condition,  and  the  way  she  was  handled  was  won 
derful,  for  the  monitors  were  hard  to  manage  and  she 
was  the  only  one  perfectly  available,  for  the  Tecumseh 
was  blown  up,  the  Winnebago's  turrets  were  out  of 
order,  and  one  of  the  Manhattan's  guns  disabled. 
Above  all  they  talked  about  his  great  deserts  at  the 
hands  of  the  government,  and  what  a  shining  reward 
he  was  sure  to  receive  for  his  brilliant  services.  Every 
mail  was  expected  to  bring  his  promotion." 

I  was  very  glad  to  hear  this  from  Captain  Herbert, 
a  perfectly  well-known  citizen  and  a  man  of  undoubted 
truth.  I  regretted  not  having  met  him  in  season  to 
incorporate  his  testimony  in  the  body  of  the  book,  and 
now  can  only  preserve  it  in  this  form. 


ADDENDA.  283 

The  following  extract  is  from  the  New  York  Tribune: 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Tribune : 

SIR  : The    article    in    yesterday's    edition    of  your  paper  entitled 

"Three  Generations  of  Naval  Officers,11  will  doubtless  surprise  many 
officers  of  the  navy,  and  they  will  wonder  where  the  writer  obtained 
his  information.  I  am  not  at  all  disposed  to  be  hypercritical,  and 
would  not  attempt  to  correct  the  mistakes  contained  in  the  article, 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  one  of  the  statements  detracts  from  the 
credit  which  properly  belongs  to  another.  My  first  acquaintance  with 
the  late  Rear  Admiral  T.  W.  A.  Nicholson  was  on  board  the  Raritau 
in  1849,  ar"d  he  was  then  known  as  War  Horse  Nicholson,  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present  I  have  seldom  heard  his  name  mentioned 
without  that  prefix.  I  was  on  board  the  Tennessee  shortly  after  the 
Mobile  fight  and  made  a  careful  examination  of  that  vessel,  and  can 
testify  that  but  two  of  the  Manhattan's  shots  struck  her,  one  doing 
no  damage  whatever,  and  the  other  merely  breaking  the  iron  plating, 
splintering  the  wooden  backing,  and  then  dropping  into  the  water. 

The  real  cause  of  the  surrender,  as  was  well  known  and  freely 
admitted  by  all  at  the  time,  was  the  fortunate  jamming  of  the  rudder 
chains  by  the  eleven-inch  guns  of  the  Cliickasaiv,  Lieutenant  (now 
Captain)  George  H.  Perkins  in  command,  that  officer  in  the  most 
gallant  style  placing  his  vessel  immediately  under  the  stern  of  his 
formidable  adversary  and  pegging  away  until  he  had  succeeded  in 
rendering  her  an  almost  helpless  hulk,  and  the  only  shot  that  pen 
etrated  the  Tennessee  was  one  fired  from  Perkins's  vessel,  which  pen 
etrated  by  the  way  of  one  of  the  after  ports  of  the  casemate,  and 
which  in  its  flight  struck  a  gun  carriage,  a  splinter  from  which 
wounded  Admiral  Buchanan.  It  is  also  a  mistake  to  say  that 
the  Manhattans  boats  were  shot  away,  as  Commander  Nicholson 
promptly  repaired  on  board  the  flag-ship  in  one  of  his  own  boats 
immediately  after  the  surrender  of  the  Tennessee. 

I  trust  that  you  will  give  the  foregoing  a  place  in  your  paper,  in 
justice  to  "The  Hero  of  Mobile  Bay,11  whose  gallantry  will  never  be 
forgotten  by  those  who  witnessed  his  daring  attack  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  whose  bravery  on  that  occasion  saved  Admiral  Farragufs  fleet 
from  almost  certain  destruction. 

J.   H.  G.* 

BINGHAMTON,  July  16,  1 888. 

*  Capt.  James  H.  Gillis,  U.  S.  Navy. 


PROMOTION  TO   COMMODORE. 


Time  passed  away,  and  with  the  country  restored  to 
quiet,  the  survivors  of  the  "  Great  Conflict"  began  to 
analyze  and  dwell  on  its  events.  Many  of  them  wrote 
down  their  experiences,  and  a  period  of  inquiry  and  re 
search  began.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  not 
strange  that  Captain  Perkins's  name  became  prominent 
or  that  the  question  (old  as  the  days  of  King  Ahasue- 
rus),  "  What  honor  and  dignity  hath  been  done  him 
for  this?"  was  often  asked  again. 

In  the  meantime  it  was  most  gratifying  to  receive  a 
vast  amount  of  testimony  as  to  the  value  of  the  records 
contained  in  this  book.  A  single  specimen  is  selected, 
subjoined  from  almost  countless  letters.  It  is  from  Prof. 
Charles  S.  Sargent,  of  Harvard  University,  who,  dur 
ing  the  war,  was  an  officer  in  a  Massachusetts  regiment 
sent  to  the  attack  on  Mobile,  where  he  formed  his  friend 
ship  with  Captain  Perkins.  He  writes  : 

MY  DEAR  PERKINS  :  I  have  read  your  book  from  end  to  end,  and 
am  delighted  with  it.  I  wish  you  would  send  copies  to  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  the  Boston  Atheneum,  the  Brookline  Public  Library, 
the  Library  of  Harvard  College. 

As  you  are  modest,  you  may,  if  you  like,  put  my  name  to  the 
packages. 

Your  records  are  too  important  to  be  lost,  and  the  only  way  to 
make  sure  of  their  preservation  is  to  put  them  in  public  libraries. 

Professor  Sargent's  request  was  complied  with  in  the 
form  he  suggested. 

At  last  in  1896,  Senator  Gallinger,  always  full  of  en 
ergy  and  enthusiasm  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  state 


ADDENDA.  285 

and  enhance  the  lustre  of  its  name,  experienced  a  desire 
to  demand  from  the  government  a  recognition  of  Captain 
Perkins's  services,  and  gave  to  his  kindly  feeling  the 
following  practical  expression.  On  December  3,  1895, 
he  introduced  the  following  bill  into  the  senate  which 
was  read  twice,  and  referred  to  Committee  on  Naval 
Affairs  : 

IN    THE    SENATE    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 
DECEMBER  3,   1895. 

Mr.  GALLINGER  introduced  the  following  bill,  which  was  read  twice 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs: 

A    BILL    FOR    THE    RELIEF    OF    CAPTAIN    GEORGE    H.    PERKINS. 

1  lie  it    enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives   of 

2  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  Captain 

3  George    H.  Perkins,  who  was  retired   as   captain   after  forty  years' 

4  faithful  service  upon  the   active  list  of  the  United  States  Navy,  as 

5  provided    by   section   fourteen    hundred  and   forty-three,    Revised 

6  Statutes,  and   who  had    honorable  service   in   the   late   civil   war, 

7  shall   be  placed   on   the   retired  list  with  the   rank,  of  commodore 

8  without  the  corresponding  increased  pay,   but  receiving  only  the 

9  retired  pay  of  captain  of  the  Navy. 

When  this  bill  was  returned  from  the  Naval  Commit 
tee,  Mr.  Chandler  submitted  the  following  report : 

IN    THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


JANUARY  27,  1896.— Ordered  to  be  printed. 


Mr.  CHANDLER,  from  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  submitted 
the  following 

REPORT: 

[To  accompany  S.  129.] 

The  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  favorably  report  the  bill  (S.  129) 
giving  Capt.  George  H.  Perkins,  now  upon  the  retired  list,  the  rank 
of  commodore  upon  such  list.  The  bill  does  not  increase  his  pay  nor 
give  to  him  any  pecuniary  emoluments  or  benefits  whatever,  but 


286  ADDENDA. 

merely  awards  special  recognition  and  honor  to  an  officer  of  such  dis 
tinguished  merit  as  to  fairly  call  for  this  mark  of  approbation  from 
Congress.  This  is  one  of  the  few  opportunities  remaining  to  extend 
such  gratifications  to  living  officers  of  the  Navy  on  account  of  their 
personal  gallantry  in  battle,  shown  in  this  case  when  the  officer  was 
lieutenant  and  executive  officer  of  the  Cayuga  in  the  battle  below  New 
Orleans  in  April,  1862,  and  when  he  was  lieutenant-commander  in 
command  of  their  iron-clad  Chickasaw  in  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  in 
August,  1864. 

Captain  Perkins's  military  career  is  in  every  respect  highly  credit 
able.  He  was  born  in  Hopkinton,  N.  H.,  December  20,  1836,  and 
was  educated  at  the  Naval  Academy,  becoming  an  acting  midshipman 
in  1851,  a  lieutenant  February  2,  1861,  a  lieutenant-commander 
December  13,  1862,  a  commander  January  19,  1871,  and  a  captain 
March  10,  1882.  He  was  executive  officer  of  the  Cayuga  under 
Lieut.  Commander  N.  B.  Harrison  at  the  passage  of  Forts  Jackson 
and  St.  Philip  and  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  by  Farragut's  fleet  on 
April  24,  1862.  Capt.  Theodorus  Bailey  (afterwards  rear  admiral) 
was  the  second  in  command,  and,  heading  the  whole  fleet  in  the 
Cayuga,  led  the  second  division  past  the  forts. 

Admiral  Bailey's  biographer  says  : 

He  led  the  attack  in  the  gunboat  Cayuga,  passing  up  ahead  of  the  fleet 
through  the  fire  of  five  of  the  forts,  sustaining  unaided  the  attack  of  the  Con 
federate  vessels,  rams,  and  fire  rafts,  and  passed  through  them  to  the  city. 

Admiral  Bailey  says  : 

We  in  the  Cayuga  alone  encountered  the  rebel  iron-clads  Louisiana  and 
Manassas  and  their  flotilla  of  gunboats  and  maintained  unaided  a  conflict 
with  them  until  Boggs,  in  the  Varuna,  came  up,  and  after  delivering  a 
broadside,  which  came  into  the  Cayuga  as  well  as  the  enemy  in  conflict  with 
us,  he  passed  up  the  river  out  of  sight.  .  .  .  After  seeing  our  (Cayugcfs) 
third  prize  in  flames  we  steamed  up  the  river  and  captured  the  Chalmette 
regiment.  .  .  .  Lieut.  Commander  N.  B.  Harrison  was  gallantly  sus 
tained  by  Lieut.  George  H.  Perkins  and  Acting  Master  Thomas  H.  Morton. 
These  officers  have  my  unbounded  admiration. 

Commander  Harrison,  in  his  report  to  Captain  Bailey,  says  : 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  inform  you — you  had  us  under  your  own  eyes — that 
all  did  their  duty  fearlessly  and  well ;  but  I  must  commend  to  your  special 
notice  my  executive  officer,  Lieut.  George  H.  Perkins.  The  remarkable 
coolness  and  precision  of  this  young  officer  while  aiding  me  in  steering  the 


ADDENDA.  287 

vessel  through  the  barrier  and  past  the  forts  under  their  long  and  heavy  fire 
must  have  attracted  your  attention. 

After  the  passage  of  the  forts,  Farragut  sent  Bailey  to  receive  the 
surrender  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  he  took  Lieutenant  Perkins 
with  him.  Nicolay  and  Hay  say  : 

It  was  an  imprudent  exposure  of  his  most  valuable  officer,  for  as  Bailey 
with  a  single  companion  walked  from  the  landing  to  the  city  hall  they  were 
followed  by  a  noisy  and  insulting  street  rabble,  cheering  for  Jefferson  Davis 
and  uttering  wild  threats  of  violence  ;  the  resolute  and  self-possessed  bear 
ing  of  the  two  officers  alone  saved  them. 

After  Perkins  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-commander  he  was 
given  the  command  of  the  New  London  on  the  Mississippi  river,  ran 
the  batteries  at  Port  Hudson  successfully  five  times,  and  had  a  severe 
skirmish  with  the  enemy  at  Whitehall  Point. 

From  July,  1863,  he  was  in  command  of  the  Sciota  of  the  Gulf 
Squadron  until  April,  1864,  when  he  was  relieved,  but  volunteered  to 
stay  for  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay.  Admiral  Farragut  reported  : 

I  cannot  give  too  much  praise  to  Lieutenant-Commander  Perkins  who, 
although  he  had  orders  to  return  North,  volunteered  to  take  command  of 
the  Chickasaw  and  did  his  duty  nobly. 

How  well  he  performed  that  duty  appears  from  the  graphic  account 
given  by  Nicolay  and  Hay  of  the  fight  below  Mobile.  After  Farragut's 
fleet  had  successfully  passed  the  batteries  at  Fort  Morgan,  and  there 
was  a  lull  in  the  fighting,  the  formidable  rebel  ram  Tennessee  was  seen 
making  directly  for  the  Hartford,  Farragufs  flagship.  All  the  Union 
ships  were  signaled  to  attack  her,  but  her  capture  was  no  easy  task, 
although  finally  accomplished. 

The  Chickasaw  got  under  the  stern  of  the  Tennessee  and  hung  on  like  a 
bulldog,  keeping  up  an  obstinate  fire  with  her  four  eleven-inch  guns.  A 
lucky  shot  severed  the  tiller  chains  of  the  Tennessee;  her  smoke-stack  was 
shot  away  and  the  smoke  poured,  in  suffocating  volumes,  upon  the  gun 
deck.  .  .  .  The  Tennessee  was  a  noble  prize,  despite  her  injuries,  which 
were  such  as  could  be  easily  repaired.  .  .  .  The  Chickaiaiv,  the  most 
efficient  of  the  iron-dads,  energetically  continued  the  day's  work.  After 
towing  the  prize  to  her  anchorage  near  the  flagship  she  steamed  down  to 
Fort  Powell,  taking  the  work  in  reverse,  and  bombarded  it  for  an  hour. 
When  night  came  on  the  fort  was  evacuated  and  blown  up.  On  the  7th, 
after  a  heavy  shelling  from  the  Chickasaw^  Col.  C.  D.  Anderson,  command 
ing  Fort  Gaines,  surrendered  with  his  entire  garrison  of  over  800  men. 


288  ADDENDA. 

On  such  authentic  records  as  the  above  concerning  the  p  issage  of 
the  New  Orleans  forts,  the  capture  of  the  city,  and  the  battle  of  Mobile 
Bay,  Captain  Perkins's  fame  securely  rests  After  his  promotion  to 
his  present  grade  he  continued  in  active  service,  and  was  in  command 
at  sea  for  eleven  months,  as  captain  of  the  fl.igship  in  the  Pacific 
Squadron,  with  Rear  Admiral  John  H.  Upshur.  On  his  retirement, 
after  forty  years  in  the  Navy,  he  had  been  on  shore  duty  ten  years  and 
seven  months  and  at  sea  fifteen  years  and  four  months,  making  his 
full  share  of  sea  service. 

Without  exaggerating  his  achievements  or  merits,  it  may  be  said 
that  no  naval  officer  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  exceeded  him  in 
military  skill  and  personal  courage,  or  is  more  entitled  to  the  grati 
tude  of  his  countrymen. 

Further  details  of  his  notable  career  may  be  found  in  a  skt  tch  of 
his  life  written  by  Rear  Admiral  George  E.  Belknap,  and  published 
in  April,  1884,  in  the  Bay  State  Monthly,  afterwards  called  the 
Massachusetts  Magazine,  and  also  printed  in  the  Granite  Monthly  at 
Concord,  N.  H.  Many  official  letters  throwing  a  bright  light  upon 
his  naval  exploits  may  be  found  (edited  and  arranged  by  his  sister, 
Miss  Susan  G.  Perkins,  and  published  with  a  reprint  of  the  sketch  of 
Admiral  Belknap)  in  a  volume  issued  at  Concord  in  1886. 

The  action  now  proposed  in  Captain  Perkins's  behalf  is  recom 
mended  by  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  a  letter,  as  follows  : 

NAVY    D  E  P A  R  T  M  K  N  T, 

WASHINGTON,  December  n,  1894. 

SIR:  Referring  to  the  letter,  dated  the  6th  instant,  of  the  Committee  on 
Naval  Affairs  of  the  Senate,  transmitting,  for  si.ch  recommendation  as  this 
Department  may  deem  proper  to  make,  Senate  bill  2,340,  "  For  the  relief 
of  Capt.  George  H.  Perkins,"  and  referring  also  to  the  Department's  letter 
of  the  8th  idem,  acknowledging  the  receipt  thereof,  I  have  the  honor  to 
state  that  in  view  of  the  exceptionally  distinguished  record  made  by  this 
officer  during  the  late  war,  as  fully  set  forth  in  Report  No.  1,498,  Fifty- 
second  Congress,  fiist  session,  made  by  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  under  date  of  May  26,  1892,  and  in  view  also 
of  the  fact  that  the  bill  now  pending  does  not  provide  for  any  increase  of 
the  pay  of  Captain  Perkins,  I  recommend  the  bill  to  the  favorable  consider 
ation  of  the  committee. 

Very  respectfully, 

H.  A.  HKRBERT,  Secretary. 
THE  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  NAVAL  AFFAIRS, 

United  States  Senate. 

The  proposition  to  give  Captain  Perkins  the  rank  of  commodore  on 
the  retired  list  passed  the  Senate  on  July  i,  1892,  in  Senate  bill  No. 


ADDENDA.  289 

2,965,  hereafter  alluded  to,  but  did  not  pass  the  House,  although 
favorably  reported  on  July  15,  1892,  as  hereafter  appears. 

The  reasons  for  the  passage  of  the  bill  have  been  given  in  various 
reports  of  the  Senate  and  House  committees,  as  appears  by  the  copies 
hereto  annexed,  as  follows  : 

[House  Report  No.  1,899,  Fifty-second  Congress,  first  session.] 

The  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (S. 
2,965)  for  the  relief  of  Capt.  George  H.  Perkins,  having  had  the  same 
under  consideration,  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report: 

A  House  bill  identical  in  its  provisions  (H.  R.  8,264)  has  been  con 
sidered  and  favorably  reported  from  this  committee.  (House  Report  No. 
1,498,  Fifty-second  Congress.) 

Your  committee  adopt  the  report  as  filed  with  the  bill  already  on  the  Cal 
endar,  and  for  the  reasons  therein  set  forth  herewith  recommend  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Senate  bill  (S.  2,965)  in  lieu  of  the  bill  of  the  House. 


[House  Report  No.  1,498,  Fifty-second  Congress,  first  session.] 

The  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (H.  R. 
8,264)  f°r  the  relief  of  Capt.  George  H.  Perkins,  United  States  Navy, 
respectfully  report : 

Your  committee  having  examined  into  the  merits  of  this  case,  find  that 
the  Senate  report  of  this  session  fully  sets  out  the  facts,  as  this  committee 
has  ascertained  upon  its  own  investigation,  and  the  Senate  report,  with  its 
recommendation,  we  adopt  as  to  the  present  bill.  The  said  report  is  as 
follows  : 

[Senate  Report  No.  665,  Fifty-second  Congress,  first  session.] 

The  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred  the  bill  (S. 
2,965)  for  the  relief  of  Capt.  George  H.  Perkins,  have  considered  the  same 
and  recommend  its  passage. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  bill  does  not  propose  any  increase  of 
pay  for  Captain  Perkins,  it  being  expressly  stipulated  that  his  pay  shall  not 
be  that  of  a  commodore,  but  that  which  he  is  now  receiving  as  a  captain. 
It  does  provide,  however,  for  his  promotion  to  the  rank  of  commodore 
without  the  corresponding  pay,  and  your  committee  believes  that  by 
reason  of  his  brilliant  record  and  term  of  service  it  is  but  just  to  allow  him 
such  rank. 

Captain  Perkins  entered  the  naval  service  of  the  United  States  on  Octo 
ber  i,  1851,  and  served  actively  and  continuously  for  forty  years,  retiring  on 
October  i,  1891,  with  the  rank  of  captain.  During  this  period  his  services 
were  of  the  most  brilliant  character,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  following: 


ADDENDA. 

Extracts  from  testim  ony  relating  to  the  services  of  Capt.  George  f].  Perkins, 
United  States  Navy,  retired,  performed  in  the  battle  below  New  Orleans  in 
April,  1862,  and  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  in  August,  1864. 

In  the  battle  below  New  Orleans  Lieut.  George  H.  Perkins  was  the 
executive  officer  of  the  Cayuga,  of  which  Capt.  T.  Bailey,  second  in  com 
mand  of  the  fleet,  afterwards  Admiral  Bailey,  makes  the  following  report : 

.  .  .  "  On  the  28th  of  April  both  the  forts  surrendered  to  Commander 
Porter.  .  .  .  Lieut.  Commander  N.  B.  Harrison  was  gallantly  sustained 
by  Lieut.  George  H.  Perkins  and  Acting  Master  Thomas  H.  Morton. 
These  officers  have  my  unbounded  admiration." 

Commander  N.  B.  Harrison,  in  his  report  to  Captain  Bailey,  command 
ing  the  leading  division  of  the  gunboats,  says  : 

"  It  is  needless  for  me  to  inform  you — you  had  us  under  your  own  eyes — 
that  all  did  their  duty  fearlessly  and  well  ;  but  I  must  commend  to  your 
special  notice  my  executive  officer,  Lieut.  George  H.  Perkins.  The  remark 
able  coolness  and  precision  of  this  young  officer  while  aiding  me  in  steer 
ing  the  vessel  through  the  barrier  and  past  the  forts  under  their  long  and 
heavy  fire  must  have  attracted  your  attention." 

Lieutenant  Perkins  was  the  officer  who  with  Captain  Bailey  was  selected 
to  make  the  landing  on  the  levee  at  New  Orleans  with  a  flag  of  truce  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  the  city. 

In  the  battle  of  Mobile  Lieutenant-Commander  Perkins  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  iron-clad  Chickasaw. 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  review  written  for  the  Nation  by  Gen.  J.  C. 
Palfrey  on  Commander  Parker's  account  of  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay : 

"  Lieutenant-Commander  Perkins,  of  the  Chickasaw,  had  been  ordered 
North,  but  asked  for  and  obtained  permission  to  wait  until  he  had  carried 
his  monitor  through  the  expected  fight.  Though  one  of  the  youngest  offi 
cers  in  command  of  a  ship,  he  had  the  sagacity  to  reflect  that  in  a  strange 
harbor,  full  of  torpedoes,  he  would  be  safer  alongside  of  the  enemy's  vessel, 
which  for  its  own  safety  might  be  expected  to  keep  clear  of  torpedoes. 
Consequently  he  kept  close  under  the  stern  of  the  Tennessee  and  would  not 
be  thrown  off,  and  pounded  away  at  close  quarters  with  his  n-inch  guns. 
He  succeeded  in  jamming  one  of  her  ports  and  opening  a  breach  for  his 
shells  to  her  interior,  and  to  him  Commodore  Parker  awards  the  praise  of 
giving  the  vital  wound  which  caused  her  surrender." 

The  New  York  Herald  correspondent,  under  date  of  August  20,  1864, 
alluding  to  the  surrender  of  the  Tennessee,  writes  as  follows : 

"  The  final  shots  that  terminated  the  career  of  the  rebel  vessel  were  fired 
by  the  monitor  Chickasaw,  which  passed  close  under  her  stern,  giving  her 
the  full  weight  of  two  n-inch  solid  shot  from  her  forward  turret,  which 
damaged  the  covering  of  the  ram's  stern  ports. 

"  Buchanan  went  aft  with  his  engineer  to  readjust  the  port  cover.     While 


ADDENDA.  29  I 

engaged  in  this  operation  the  Chickasaiv  brought  her  after  turret  to  bear, 
one  shot  from  which  carried  away  the  tiller  chains  of  the  Tennessee,  render 
ing  her  unmanageable,  while  the  other  shot  entered  the  damaged  port,  kill 
ing  one  man  and  fracturing  Buchanan's  leg." 

From  a  "  Chapter  in  History,"  published  by  Captain  James  B.  Eads  in 
defense  of  his  monitors,  we  copy  the  following  closing  sentence  : 

"  The  Chickasaiv  obtained  a  position  under  the  stern  of  the  rebel  ram 
and  poured  in  such  a  storm  of  n-inch  solid  steel  and  cast-iron  shot  that 
the  flag  of  the  ram  was  finally  hauled  down  to  her. 

"Throughout  the  fight  the  Tennessee  found  it  impossible  to  get  out  of 
the  raking  fire  in  which  she  was  held  by  this  iron-clad,  in  which  position  the 
latter  delivered  fifty-two  ii-inch  shot  at  her.  Her  commander,  George  H. 
Perkins,  was  handsomely  complimented  by  Farragut." 

The  Concord  (N.  H.)  Statesman,  commenting  upon  this  paper,  in  an 
editorial,  with  excusable  local  pride,  says: 

"  The  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  was  one  of  the  great  battles  of  the  war,  and 
no  ship's  commander  engaged  in  it  was  entitled  to  half  as  much  credit  for 
gallantry  and  good  judgment  and  persistency  as  Perkins.  He  captured  the 
l^ennessee  and  laid  beside  her  modestly  awaiting  an  officer  of  higher  rank  to 
come  up  in  his  ship  and  receive  the  surrender.  By  this  the  reader  will 
infer,  which  is  a  fact,  that  Commander  Perkins  is  as  modest  as  he  is  brave. 
His  record  all  through  the  war  is  of  the  very  highest  character." 

Commodore  Parker,  in  his  account  of  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay,  writes: 

"  But  the  vessel  that  undoubtedly  inflicted  the  most  injury  upon  the  ram 
was  the  monitor  Chickascnu,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Commander  Per 
kins,  '  which  hung,'  said  the  pilot  of  the  Tennessee,  'close  under  our  stern. 
Move  as  we  would,  she  was  always  there,  firing  the  two  ii-inch  guns  in  her 
forward  turret  like  pocket  pistols,  so  that  she  soon  had  the  plates  flying  in 
the  air.'  " 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  the  report  of  Rear  Admiral  D.  G. 
Farragut,  of  August  12,  1864: 

"  Our  iron-clads  from  their  slow  speed  and  bad  steering  had  some  diffi 
culty  in  getting  into  and  maintaining  their  position  in  line  as  we  passed  the 
forts,  and  in  the  subsequent  encounter  with  the  Tennessee  from  the  same 
causes  were  not  as  effective  as  could  have  been  desired;  but  I  cannot  give 
too  much  praise  to  Lieutenant-Commander  Perkins,  who,  though  he  had 
orders  from  the  Department  to  return  North,  volunteered  to  take  command 
of  the  CJiickasaw,  and  did  his  duty  nobly." 

Such  was  the  impression  made  by  Perkins's  services  in  this  battle  that 
Captain  James  B.  Eads,  the  builder  of  the  Chickasaw,  when  he  heard  the 
results  of  the  battle  and  the  surpassing  part  of  the  Chickasaw  in  it,  said : 
"  I  would  walk  fifty  miles  to  shake  hands  with  the  young  man  who  com 
manded  her." 


2Q2  ADDENDA. 

Said  Captain  Johnston,  who  commanded  the  Tennessee  (in  the  same  vein) : 

"  If  it  had  not  been  for  that  d d  black  hulk  hanging  on  our  stern  we 

would  have  gotten  on  well  enough.     She  did  us  more  damage  than  all  the 
rest  of  the  federal  fleet." 

Capt.  Horace  Herbert,  Sixteenth  New  Hampshire  regiment,  whose  regi 
ment  was  stationed  at  Pensacola,  was  present  with  General  Ashboth,  who 
commanded  at  Pensacola,  on  board  of  the  Clyde,  which  went  out  to  wit 
ness  the  advance  of  the  fleet.  The  next  day,  when  the  wounded  were 
brought  back,  Admiral  Buchanan,  who  was  under  obligations  to  Captain 
Herbert  for  courtesies  extended  him,  sent  for  him  that  he  might  express 
his  thanks  in  person.  To  him  he  conversed  freely  about  the  Mobile  fight. 
The  following  is  Captain  Herbert's  account  of  it: 

"  He  [Buchanan]  said  the  Tennessee  would  have  defeated  the  entire 
fleet  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  monitor,  which  seemed  to  move  by  magic. 
It  would  turn  around  three  times  to  the  Tennessee's  once,  and  seemed  to  be 
everywhere.  He  said  that  the  Tennessee's  crew  became  exhausted  replying 
to  his  attacks,  while  the  C hie ka saw's  was  as  fresh  as  ever,  and,  in  fact,  they 

seemed   like  a  very  d 1,   and  to  quote   Admiral  Buchanan's  words,  he 

said  over  and   over  again  how  different  would  have  been  the  result  if  he 
could  have  shaken  off  that  d d  little  Chickasaw." 

As  an  evidence  of  Admiral  Farragut's  appreciation  of  Perkins  we  quote 
from  a  letter  of  a  distinguished  officer: 

"  Mr.  McRitchie  tells  me  that  Farragut  said  to  him  less  than  a  month  be 
fore  the  Admiral's  death,  when  talking  about  the  Gulf  Squadron,  that  Cap 
tain  Perkins  was  young  and  handsome,  and  that  no  braver  man  ever  trod  a 
vessel's  deck,  and  further  commended  in  the  highest  terms  his  work  in  the 
Chickasaiv  against  the  Tennessee." 

These  extracts  are  made  not  in  disparagement  of  the  splendid  services 
rendered  by  other  officers,  but  to  show  the  excellency  of  Perkins's  achieve 
ments,  and  the  appreciation  of  them  at  that  time,  and  from  that  period  to 
his  voluntary  retirement,  after  forty  years'  active  service  in  the  navy,  on  the 
ist  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1891,  he  enjoyed  an  unbroken  reputation  as  a 
most  accomplished  officer. 


The  bill  now  recommended  for  passage  was  introduced  in  the 
Senate  on  December  3,  1895,  by  Senator  Gallinger  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  is  as  follows  : 

A  BILL  for  the  relief  of  Captain  George  H   Perkins. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  Captain  George  H.  Perkins, 
who  was  retired  as  captain  after  forty  years'  faithful  service  upon  the  active 
list  of  the  United  States  Navy,  as  provided  by  section  fourteen  hundred 


ADDENDA.  293 

and  forty-three,  Revised  Statutes,  and  who  had  honorable  service  in  the  late 
civil  war,  shall  be  placed  on  the  retired  list  with  the  rank  of  commodore 
without  the  corresponding  increased  pay,  but  receiving  only  the  retired  pay 
of  captain  of  the  navy. 

May  4,  1896,  Mr.  Baker  of  New  Hampshire  rose  in 
the  House  and  addressed  the  speaker,  asking  unani 
mous  consent  for  the  present  consideration  of  the  bill 
for  the  promotion  of  Captain  George  H.  Perkins. 

The  bill  was  read,  and  the  speaker  asked,  "  Is  there 
any  objection  to  the  present  consideration  of  the  bill?" 

Mr.  Bailey  of  Texas. — Mr.  Speaker,  there  seems  to 
be  a  special  stipulation  that  this  shall  not  increase  the 
pay  of  this  officer.  May  I  inquire,  then,  what  the  pur 
pose  of  the  bill  is  except  to  merely  increase  the  rank? 

Mr.  Baker. — The  purpose  is  to  increase  the  rank. 
This  gentleman,  I  will  state,  is  so  fortunately  situated 
that  he  does  not  care  for  the  additional  pay.  His 
friends  ask  this,  as  an  appropriate  recognition  of  his 
services. 

There  being  no  objection,  the  bill  was  considered, 
and  then  ordered  to  a  third  reading  ;  and  being  read  a 
third  time  it  was  passed. 

Captain  Perkins's  commission  for  commodore  received 
the  signature  of  the  president,  Grover  Cleveland,  and 
dates  from  May  9,  1896. 


SPECIAL  ORDERS  NAVY  DEPARTMENT, 

No.  90.        (  WASHINGTON,  November  i,  1899. 

The  Department  deems  it  proper  to  give  official  notice  of 
the  death  of  Commodore  GEORGE  HAMILTON  PERKINS,  who 
died  in  Boston  on  the  2gth  ultimo,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age. 

Commodore  PERKINS  was  appointed  an  Acting  Midshipman 
in  October,  1851,  and  placed  on  the  Retired  List,  October  i, 
1891.  During  this  long  period  he  earned  the  high  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  Navy  and  the  country.  Conspicuous  among 
his  services  was  the  well-remembered  part  which  the  iron-clad 
Chickasaiv,  commanded  by  him,  took  in  the  capture  of  the  ram 
Tennessee,  at  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay.  On  May  9,  1896, 
Commodore  PERKINS  was  promoted  to  Commodore,  by  a 
special  act  of  Congress,  for  his  distinguished  services  during 
the  Rebellion,  an  honor  seldom  conferred. 

As  a  mark  of  respect  to  his  memory,  the  flags  of  the  navy 
yards  and  stations,  and  vessels  in  commission,  will  be  displayed 
at  half-mast  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  and  eleven  minute  guns 
will  be  fired  at  noon  from  the  navy  yards  and  stations,  on  the 
day  after  the  receipt  of  this  order. 

JOHN  D.   LONG, 

Secretary. 


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